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Customising the Turtle

Goal

There are various levels at which you can influence the configuration of your turtlebot. Depending on how much you want to reconfigure, choose the level that is appropriate for your circumstance.

Roslaunch Args

The turtlebot launcher minimal.launch is designed in such a way so that all of the important variables for a turtlebot are exposed via roslaunch args:

> roslaunch turtlebot_bringup minimal.launch --ros-args

As a temporary way of configuring variables, you can do this from the command line in the usual way.

> roslaunch turtlebot_bringup minimal.launch robot_name:=bob --screen

To verify the name change

> rocon_master_info

Environment Variables

A very few of the core variables listed with --ros-args have been implemented as environment variables so you can modify the turtlebot minimal launch without having to write a new launcher. These are typically for hardware, map filenames and/or pre-loaded applications.

> env | grep TURTLEBOT_
TURTLEBOT_STAGE_MAP_FILE=/maps/maze.yaml
TURTLEBOT_3D_SENSOR=asus_xtion_pro
TURTLEBOT_STACKS=hexagons
TURTLEBOT_SIMULATION=false
TURTLEBOT_RAPP_PACKAGE_WHITELIST=[rocon_apps, turtlebot_rapps]
TURTLEBOT_STDR_MAP_FILE=/maps/sparse_obstacles.yaml
TURTLEBOT_SERIAL_PORT=/dev/kobuki
TURTLEBOT_BASE=kobuki
TURTLEBOT_RAPP_PACKAGE_BLACKLIST=[]
TURTLEBOT_TYPE=turtlebot
TURTLEBOT_STAGE_WORLD_FILE=/maps/stage/maze.world
TURTLEBOT_BATTERY=/sys/class/power_supply/BAT0
TURTLEBOT_MAP_FILE=/opt/turtlebot/src/turtlebot_apps/turtlebot_navigation/maps/willow-2010-02-18-0.10.yaml
TURTLEBOT_INTERACTIONS_LIST=[turtlebot_bringup/documentation.interactions, my_rapps_tutorial/my.interactions]
TURTLEBOT_NAME=turtlebot

To change the name as done previously:

> export TURTLEBOT_NAME=bob
> roslaunch turtlebot_bringup minimal.launch --screen

Save in your setup.bashrc or somewhere similar for permanent effect.

Launcher

Finally to make a significant modification to the turtlebot customisation, create a launcher:

   1 <launch>
   2   <include file="$(find turtlebot_bringup)/launch/minimal.launch">
   3     <arg name="robot_name" value="Bob"/>
   4     <arg name="robot_icon" value="rocon_icons/cybernetic_pirate.png"/>
   5   </include>
   6 </launch>

Run it:

> roslaunch my_turtle.launch --screen

You can check the changes again with rocon_master_info.

What Next?

• Create your First Rapp or return to TurtleBot main page.