Now that we’ve chased TurtleBot around while pressing keys on the netbook, we can really appreciate the workstation. This allows you to control TurtleBot from the comfort of your chair.

Synchronizing Clocks (TurtleBot and Workstation)

Follow only the “Network Time Protocol” instructions on the Post-Installation Setup page. Skip the special cases instructions.

QUICK TIP: Make sure both TurtleBot and the workstation are connected to the same router. To avoid problems moving forward, disable security options such as firewalls and anything that does port blocking .

Set Up Networking (TurtleBot and Workstation)

Follow the network configuration instructions and follow the options for “source installation”. Note that there are different and specific instructions for TurtleBot and the workstation.

Shell into TurtleBot

Warning
This may affect the security of your TurtleBot computer. Don’t do this outside of a local network or if it contains confidential information.

Though you can always go find the TurtleBot and type in the commands directly, it’s more convenient to SSH into its computer and control it from there.

Check if SSH service exists by running on TurtleBot:

sudo service ssh status

If you receive ssh: unrecognized service, install the SSH server via:

sudo apt-get install openssh-server

Now that you’ve confirmed you have SSH installed or have just installed it, run:

sudo iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport ssh -j ACCEPT
sudo ufw allow ssh
sudo /etc/init.d/ssh restart

Find TurtleBot’s IP by running the following on TurtleBot’s computer:

ifconfig

After wlan0 (not “lo”) you’ll see an inet addr:. That is TurtleBot’s IP.

TIP: If it starts with 127, it’s probable the IP for lo is the wrong one.

TurtleBot Determine IP Address

On the workstation, open a terminal and run:

ssh turtlebot@[ip_of_turtlebot]

NOTE: Replace [ip_of_turtlebot] with TurtleBot’s IP and turtlebot with its username if you chose a name different from “turtlebot”.

Now you can SSH into TurtleBot to run scripts including the start-up script:

roslaunch turtlebot_bringup minimal.launch

…without having to walk over to TurtleBot!

TIP: The password is the same password you use to log in to the TurtleBot computer (default: turtlebot).

SSH into TurtleBot from Workstation

Drive in Comfort

On the TurtleBot computer, close all terminal windows, close the computer, and set it on the second shelf like we did in the Hardware Setup tutorial. Now that you know how to SSH into TurtleBot via your workstation you can run anything you need via the workstation.

Run:

roslaunch turtlebot_bringup minimal.launch

NOTE: turtlebot_bringup is the way of “booting up” TurtleBot. This must be run remotely on TurtleBot, never directly on the workstation.

On the workstation, run:

roslaunch turtlebot_teleop keyboard_teleop.launch

Try driving around from the workstation. This is what you should see on the workstation’s screen:

TurtleBot Networking Test

And this is what you should see in your office, home, etc:

TurtleBot Teleoperation via Workstation

Learn more at wiki.ros.org