Micropolis Robotics - Robotics Software Engineer Technical Assesment

This is task defined project to asses the new hirings for Robotics Software Engineer It helps the company to evaluate the applicants knowledge and skills in the tools and frameworks used in the department.

Areas Covered By This Test

• Implementation and coding skills
• C++ and Python profcincy
• Robot Operation Systems (ROS)
• Robotics Fundementals
• Autonomous Navigation Fundementals
• GUI development
• Software Integration

Guide and Tips

• Fork the repo to your account, and reply to the email with your repo fork that contains the soloutions once you finish (Any reply after two weeks of the email wil not be accepted!!!).
  
• Try to utilize known/open-source tools as possible.
  
• Edit the README.md file in your fork, and add the steps and exxplination of your solution for each milestone.

Project Overview

You are given a ROS1 workspace that contains a ready to use setup for a car-like robot equibbed with a depth camera and a 3D LiDAR, placed in a virtual world within Gazebo Simulator. The target goal for this project, is to develop a minimal user controlled autonomous navigation functionality for the robot provided.

How To Run

• Add the models used in the world file:

export GAZEBO_MODEL_PATH=$GAZEBO_MODEL_PATH:{Add your workspace path}/src/mybot_pkg/models

• Check and install the corresponding dependencies:

# Available in RSE_ws
./install.sh

• Launch the robot inside Gazebo:

# Launch the Robot inside Gazebo World
roslaunch mybot_pkg gazebo.launch

Milestones

To achieve the desired goal, we break it down to smaller to be achieved in order based on its debendency for the the next step.

1 - Preform a SLAM on the provided world

First, you need to map the robot world so it can understand it for later operations.
Utilize your knowledge of SLAM algorithms to produce a digital map of the world.

2 - Offline Localization

Next, to move the robot autonomously around the map you need to localize the robot in real-time without using SLAM (offline localization).
Implement/Use a localization algorithm to localize the robot in the map, and test that your localization is working by movibg the robot manyually arround the map and validate the localization output.

3 - Autonomous Navigation with Obstacle avoidance

Once you have a represntation of the environment and you can localize your robot within it, you can then start the autonomous navigation of the robot.
Implement/Use an autonomous navigation algorithm to drive the robot by itself to a defined goal that can be set in the RViz GUI, while avoiding any obstacle.

4 - External GUI Teleoperation

To make sure a smother operation of the robot when deploying it in the field, it's better to have a user friendly remote operation capabilties.
Develop a GUI that allows use to remotly control the robot from outside a ROS environment. Feel free to pick whatever framework or stack you like (C++ Qt, Python, Web-based GUI, etc...). NOTE: Implement only the basic functionality (Drive, Steer).

5 - User Defined Navigation (Open)

Develop the previous milestone and adopt it so the user of your GUI can also perform the Navigation functionality (Sendg Waypoints/Goal, Mapping, etc...).

(Optional) - Develop an Odometry Source for the robot

The very first required components to start working on any autonomous functionality are the position, orientation, velocity feedback of the robot.
If we ignore the Odometry feedback provided by Gazebo, based on the robot description provided and the sensor set, develop a node that produce an Odometry feedback as accurate as possible.

GOOD LUCK!

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