cob_web: cob_webportal

Package Summary

This package contain special launch files used by the web interface

• Author: Ulrich Reiser
• License: LGPL
• Repository: care-o-bot
• Source: git git://github.com/ipa320/cob_web.git

Description

The main goal of the cob_webportal package is extensive support of distributed development and in particular distributed integration and test on hardware platforms. It offers

• Remote access to a hardware platform
• Remote operation of single software components on the hardware platform
• Debugging and tracing via log files
• VNC-based forwarding of component visualizations

The webportal is embedded into a trac environment, such that an integration with standard software engineering tools like version control, bugtracking, continuos integration and online documentation for the hardware platform in form of a wiki is available.

Currently it is configured for the Care-O-bot platform. As the architecture of the webportal does not rely on a a special hardware or software framework, it can be easily used for other hardware platforms.

The webportal consists of a control plugin for the remote access and will be anhanced by a deployment plugin, that allows to choose special repository versions or releases of the components to be deployed on the robot hardware for remote tests.

Access Rights

General access to the hardware is managed by a resource management plugin to prevent the concurrent operation of two remote users. By a hierarchical definition of different user rights, multiple users can participate at remote tests. While one user is operating the components, the others can e.g. track the component logs or view the visualizations.

The webportal control plugin offers the following user rights:

• CONTROL_VIEW: View component log windows and visualisations
• CONTROL_USER: Reserve the hardware for operation
• CONTROL_OPERATOR: Configuration of existing components, addition of new components
• CONTROL_ADMIN: Administrator rights to configure the plugin itself.

Unless a user with CONTROL_USER or CONTROL_OPERATOR rights has not reserved the current time slot, he is restricted to the CONTROL_VIEW rights.

Available Webportal Services

Shortly web access to a full-fledged gazebo simulation environment of Care-O-bot 3 including all driver components will be available. The robot can be controlled in multiple ways, e.g.:

• via a cob_dashboard instantiation over the webportal
• by a cob_teleop intantiation on your local pc
• by new developed controllers to be tested

In a second step, access will also be granted to real hardware.

Why should I use it?

Cob_webportal offers the possibility to remotely test new developed ROS packages for complex service robots, e.g.

• a new manipulator controller
• a new script
• a new application

The tester doesn't have to care about the installation of the simulation environment or a running robot hardware, respectively.

Getting Started

If you are interested, please send a mail to webportal-account(at)ipa.fraunhofer.de to get an account for the webportal.