Before driving the real TurtleBot around, it would be useful to understand the capabilities of the robot in terms of its possible speed, turning capability, carrying capacity, and other such properties. With this information, you can plan the motion and speed of TurtleBot and design interesting applications. The specifications here are taken from the information provided for the Kobuki base by the Yujin Robot company. Their website for general information and specifications can be found at the following site:

http://kobuki.yujinrobot.com/about2

A user's guide for the Kobuki base is included at the following site:

http://kobuki.yujinrobot.com/wiki/online-user-guide

The base has a rechargeable battery that powers the motors turning the wheels. The netbook has its own battery but is not charged when the TurtleBot is moving on its own. There are a number of sensors in the base.

In the previous examples of teleoperation, the TurtleBot linear speed in the forward or backward direction was 0.2 meters/second or 20 cm/second. That is a bit over 1 foot per second and is probably fast enough for a robot moving in a room with obstacles in its way. The turning rate was 1 radian/second. Since there are 2π (6.28) radians in a circle, the TurtleBot will rotate completely around in about 6 seconds or so.

According to the manufacturer, Yujin Robot, the maximum values are as follows:

Review the other functional and hardware specifications to familiarize yourself with TurtleBot and its capabilities and limitations. In our laboratory for safety reasons, we run the TurtleBot at a relatively slow speed compared to its maximum speed.

TurtleBot 2 dashboard

In this section, it is assumed that you have established communication with the TurtleBot and can send commands to start the minimal launch.

In a new terminal window on the remote computer, type the following command to bring up the dashboard:

$ roslaunch turtlebot_dashboard turtlebot_dashboard.launch

Wait for the image of the dashboard to appear.

In the following Turtlebot (Kobuki) dashboard screenshot, we have clicked on the diagnostic icon in the far upper-left corner of the screen to bring up the status messages on the dashboard:

Kobuki dashboard

The dashboard indicates the status of various systems of the TurtleBot:

• A diagnostic indicator, /rosout messages, and motor control (OFF/ON) in the upper-left corner of the screen
• Controls for two colored LEDs on the base that can be turned on or off
• Battery monitor indicators for the netbook and the Kobuki base
• Status of the power system, the motors, and the sensors

If your netbook battery monitor does not work, check the directions in the Setting up to control a real TurtleBot section to select a proper battery for monitoring. The TurtleBot's dashboard is described at the site with the selection of the Groovy and Indigo versions: http://wiki.ros.org/turtlebot_dashboard.