BLDC-tool connects to vesc, teleop doesn’t

[drewbus-drewbus]

Hey everyone! I installed from scratch in a 4gb jetson nano and am experimenting with using ros2 and ros1 together. I had previously installed on a 2gb nano using the mushr image and everything worked great.

Now this time I'm having drive issues. I'm getting the "Failed to connect to the VESC, SerialException Failed to open the serial port to the VESC. IO Exception (2): No such file or directory" error. However, I have the bldc-tool running on the same nano and can connect to and operate the vesc just fine. It has the same settings I downloaded and used previously and successfully in the 2gb nano.

I'm out of ideas. I had to chmod ttyACM0 to get the bldc-tool to work and hoped permissions might fix the issue, but it doesn't appear to. I'm using a bench power supply so power should be fine. Im not sourcing ros2 - just melodic. I'm stumped. Ideas?

[palanc]

Hi @drewbus-drewbus - just to clarify, when you say that you installed from scratch, does that mean that you started with the stock Jetson Nano image and then used our install script process (https://mushr.io/hardware/nano_install/) to install everything? Or did you try to install stuff using your own process?

[palanc]

Sorry actually ignore my previous comment for now. The quickstart instructions (I assume you're referring to this: https://mushr.io/tutorials/quickstart/) are meant for installing the MuSHR simulation on a desktop/laptop rather than installing on the actual car. Could you try installing with the install script (https://mushr.io/hardware/nano_install/) instead?

[drewbus-drewbus]

Reading through the correct install script and seeing the udev rules I went "there it is." Everything works again. Thanks!

[rogeriobonatti]

@drewbus-drewbus can you please comment on what exactly you did to solve this issue? I ran the mushr installation script and all the udev rules are there (and everything seems correct), but for some weird reason the rules are not being applied to the system. I tried re-starting the rules several times but doesn't work (even after I ran some parts of the installation script manually).

[drewbus-drewbus]

I just ran the relevant parts of the hardware install script that pertained to the vesc. My issue was I'd used the simulator install script without realizing it.

Have you added your user to the appropriate group? I can't remember which one offhand, it's in the script.

[rogeriobonatti]

Actually I figured out my issue: the lidar script was not running because the ROS IP is set to the UW IP address from their install script by default, so ROS was simply not starting on my computer. It wasn’t obvious from the launch file, but I caught it after running roscore by itself. The install script worked fine otherwise!

[hardikbvaghela]

i have the same problem. when i connect VESC tool with BLDC Tool. and then teleoperation with Plazstation remote control. but the error comes with the VESC Tool. so now wha should i do?

[palanc]

Okay I believe the steps I listed two messages ago will give you what you want, but I will list them out more explicitly here so that it is hopefully clearer.

1. With your current setup (HDMI cable plugged into Nano/Monitor), follow step 8 here to get the robot to broadcast its own network: https://mushr.io/hardware/nano_install/.
2. Shutdown the robot (for example, you could use sudo shutdown -P now). Remove the HDMI cable from the Nano (as well as any peripherals such as mouse/keyboard). Unpower the Nano and VESC.
3. Follow the instructions here to launch the robot remotely: https://mushr.io/hardware/build_instructions/#teleoperate-the-robot. Note that in step 4, Robot AP is a network that should show up in your laptop/desktop's list of available WIFI networks to connect to. You should connect to this network so that you can ssh into the robot in the subsequent steps.

[WensongVincent]

Hi @palanc, I got the same problem of "The firmware on the connected VESC is too old, please update it using a programmer". But I've implemented the step 18 for VESC prepare. The VESC I'm using is in this link: https://www.amazon.com/Flipsky-Aluminum-Skiing-Electric-Controller/dp/B087M4CRQX/ref=dp_prsubs_sccl_2/135-4997271-8027165?pd_rd_w=cJg0g&content-id=amzn1.sym.7df936a4-0c8f-4c2c-ae82-092487072d30&pf_rd_p=7df936a4-0c8f-4c2c-ae82-092487072d30&pf_rd_r=H10VNB9A3G1V79WX8HKH&pd_rd_wg=OxM6V&pd_rd_r=7b3d2a98-9049-43f2-9d0e-d86b78bad906&pd_rd_i=B087M4CRQX&psc=1, it is also a Flipsky FSESC 4.12 VESC. Could you please help me out?

[palanc]

Hi @WensongVincent - Are you sure that you successfully uploaded the firmware through VESC tool? Step 21 of VESC preparation states that a post-firmware dialog will pop up once upload is complete, did that happen for you?

[WensongVincent]

Hi @palanc, thank you for your reply. I've fixed the problem by flash the default firmware (version 6.2) first and then flash the one provided (version 2.18).
But now I got a new problem that, when I power up the VESC, it automatically steer to left and constantly apply force, in addition, the car is moving forward when I press left or right key on keyboard, the up and down key only making some noice, and the car can not turn left or right. Do you know what should I do? I've tried to switch the connection of motor and server, but didn't solve it.

[palanc]

For the servo, did you install the arm as shown in Fig 5.2 of the instructions (https://mushr.io/hardware/build_instructions/#servo-motor-installation)? If it is installed offset from that position then there could be mismatch between where the robot thinks the servo arm is and where it really is.

Just to be clear, pressing the arrow keys (both up/down and left/right) only controls the main BLDC motor. None of the arrow keys control the servo. It may be that the up/down key don't cause the BLDC motor to move if the motor gears are not well meshed. Did you verify that the gears were well meshed with step 17 of the BLDC motor install (https://mushr.io/hardware/build_instructions/#brushless-motor-installation)