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BeeSoft User's Guide and Reference

9.3 Teleoperating Your Robot


W A R N I N G...
Before running your robot under the control of the BeeSoft Commander, make sure you have prepared a safe, clear area in which your robot can move about. The area must be indoors, flat, dry, level, smooth, free of potential hazards such as cables across the floor and bulky floor mats, well away from small children, casual passerby and people who may not be paying attention. Your test area must be away from any stairwell, ramp or other hazard where your robot might tip over or fall. Be sure you know where your robot’s kill switch is.
Before starting any operations in which your robot actually moves around, you might want to set up an enclosed, protected area for it to navigate within. Surround a large, clear space in your lab with cardboard cartons or the like. Make sure they are at least as tall as the height of the robot’s sonars.
Before commanding your robot to move, make sure you have disconnected all cables, such as power charge cables, attached to the robot, and that the robot is free to move about. If the robot wanders off while "leashed" it could tear a cable or even tip itself over.
Remember: Keep yourself, your colleagues and your robot safe!

The BeeSoft Commander lets you teleoperate your robot. There are two modes of operation while in the navigation window: target point mode and joystick emulation mode. These determine how mouse clicks are interpreted while in the navigation window. To switch modes, point to the mode button -- the one that says mode: target point -- right underneath the navigation window, and click the left mouse button.

Click on the button labeled mode: target point in the Navigation Window to enable joystick emulation. You’ll find it takes a bit of practice to control the robot smoothly and confidently!

Here are some other teleoperation functions provided by the BeeSoft Commander:

1.Toggle the bar beneath the Pan/Tilt Window to change pan/tilt speed. Click on the vertical bar along the left edge to swivel the pan/tilt head up or down; Similarly, click on the horizontal bar at the lower edge to swivel the head from side to side.
2. The vision/camera setup procedure is beyond the scope of this section.

But, if you already have the stereo (twin) cameras operating, point your mouse to a location within the camera image area and click the left mouse button to move the pan/tilt head so that it will point the cameras at that location. Use the control buttons labeled left camera and right camera to toggle between view from each of the twin (stereo) cameras.

Safety Note:
You can stop robot motion at any time simply by clicking on the right mouse button anywhere in the BeeSoft Commander interface display, OR by clicking the left mouse button on the button labeled stop robot.

In This Chapter You’ve Learned...
...how to use the BeeSoft Commander to teleoperate your robot with a graphical user interface on your workstation or PC. You’ve discovered how to set target points for your robot, and how to set it free to explore its environment in autonomous mode. You’ve also gained an understanding of the basics of robotic navigation and how your robot builds an increasingly accurate occupancy map of the contours of its world as it explores and remembers paths it has taken and obstacles it has encountered.

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