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ROS Robotics Projects
ROS Robotics Projects

ROS Robotics Projects: Make your robots see, sense, and interact with cool and engaging projects with Robotic Operating System

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ROS Robotics Projects

Chapter 2. Face Detection and Tracking Using ROS, OpenCV and Dynamixel Servos

One of the capabilities of most service and social robots is face detection and tracking. These robots can identify faces and can move their heads according to the human face that moves around it. There are numerous implementations of face detection and tracking systems on the Web. Most trackers have a pan-and-tilt mechanism, and a camera is mounted on the top of the servos. In this chapter, we will see a simple tracker that only has a pan mechanism. We are going to use a USB webcam mounted on an AX-12 Dynamixel servo. The controlling of Dynamixel servo and image processing are done in ROS.

The following topics will be covered in this chapter:

  • An overview of the project
  • Hardware and software prerequisites
  • Configuring Dynamixel AX-12 servos
  • The connection diagram of the project
  • Interfacing Dynamixel with ROS
  • Creating ROS packages for a face tracker and controller
  • The ROS-OpenCV interface
  • Implementing a face tracker...

Overview of the project

The aim of the project is to build a simple face tracker that can track face only along the horizontal axis of the camera. The face tracker hardware consists of a webcam, Dynamixel servo called AX-12, and a supporting bracket to mount the camera on the servo. The servo tracker will follow the face until it aligns to the center of the image from the webcam. Once it reaches the center, it will stop and wait for face movement. The face detection is done using an OpenCV and ROS interface, and the controlling of the servo is done using a Dynamixel motor driver in ROS.

We are going to create two ROS packages for this complete tracking system; one is for face detection and finding the centroid of the face, and the other is for sending commands to the servo to track the face using the centroid values.

Okay! Let's start discussing the hardware and software prerequisites of this project.

Note

The complete source code of this project can be cloned from the following...

Hardware and software prerequisites

The following is a table of the hardware components that can be used for building this project. You can also see the rough price and a purchase link for each component.

List of hardware components:

No

Component name

Estimated price (USD)

Purchase link

1

Webcam

32

https://amzn.com/B003LVZO8S

2

Dynamixel AX-12A servo with mounting bracket

76

https://amzn.com/B0051OXJXU

3

USB-to-Dynamixel Adapter

50

http://www.robotshop.com/en/robotis-usb-to-dynamixel-adapter.html

4

Extra 3-pin cables for AX-12 servos

12

http://www.trossenrobotics.com/p/100mm-3-Pin-DYNAMIXEL-Compatible-Cable-10-Pack

5

Power adapter

5

https://amzn.com/B005JRGOCM

6

6-port AX/MX power hub

5

http://www.trossenrobotics.com/6-port-ax-mx-power-hub

7

USB extension cable

1

https://amzn.com/B00YBKA5Z0

Total cost with shipping and tax

Around 190-200

Note

The URLs and prices can vary. If the links are not available, a Google search...

Interfacing Dynamixel with ROS

If you successfully configured the Dynamixel servo, then it will be very easy to interface Dynamixel with ROS running on Ubuntu. As we've already discussed, there is no need of an FTDI driver in Ubuntu because it's already built into the kernel. The only thing we have to do is install the ROS Dynamixel driver packages.

The ROS Dynamixel packages are available at the following link:

http://wiki.ros.org/dynamixel_motor

You can install the Dynamixel ROS packages using commands we'll look at now.

Installing the ROS dynamixel_motor packages

The ROS dynamixel_motor package stack is a dependency for the face tracker project, so we can install it to the ros_project_dependencies_ws ROS workspace.

Open a Terminal and switch to the src folder of the workspace:

$ cd ~/ros_project_dependencies_ws/src

Clone the latest Dynamixel driver packages from GitHub:

$ git clone https://github.com/arebgun/dynamixel_motor

Remember to do a catkin_make to build the entire packages...

Creating face tracker ROS packages

Let's start creating a new workspace for keeping the entire ROS project files for this book. You can name the workspace ros_robotics_projects_ws.

Download or clone the source code of the book from GitHub using the following link.

$ git clone https://github.com/qboticslabs/ros_robotics_projects

Now, you can copy two packages named face_tracker_pkg and face_tracker_control from the chapter_2_codes folder into the src folder of ros_robotics_projects_ws.

Do a catkin_make to build the two project packages!

Yes, you have set up the face tracker packages on your system, but what if you want to create your own package for tracking? First, delete the current packages that you copied to the src folder, and use the following commands to create the packages.

Note

Note that you should be in the src folder of ros_robotics_projects_ws while creating the new packages, and there should not be any existing packages from the book's GitHub code.

Switch to the src folder...

Overview of the project


The aim of the project is to build a simple face tracker that can track face only along the horizontal axis of the camera. The face tracker hardware consists of a webcam, Dynamixel servo called AX-12, and a supporting bracket to mount the camera on the servo. The servo tracker will follow the face until it aligns to the center of the image from the webcam. Once it reaches the center, it will stop and wait for face movement. The face detection is done using an OpenCV and ROS interface, and the controlling of the servo is done using a Dynamixel motor driver in ROS.

We are going to create two ROS packages for this complete tracking system; one is for face detection and finding the centroid of the face, and the other is for sending commands to the servo to track the face using the centroid values.

Okay! Let's start discussing the hardware and software prerequisites of this project.

Note

The complete source code of this project can be cloned from the following Git repository...

Hardware and software prerequisites


The following is a table of the hardware components that can be used for building this project. You can also see the rough price and a purchase link for each component.

List of hardware components:

No

Component name

Estimated price (USD)

Purchase link

1

Webcam

32

https://amzn.com/B003LVZO8S

2

Dynamixel AX-12A servo with mounting bracket

76

https://amzn.com/B0051OXJXU

3

USB-to-Dynamixel Adapter

50

http://www.robotshop.com/en/robotis-usb-to-dynamixel-adapter.html

4

Extra 3-pin cables for AX-12 servos

12

http://www.trossenrobotics.com/p/100mm-3-Pin-DYNAMIXEL-Compatible-Cable-10-Pack

5

Power adapter

5

https://amzn.com/B005JRGOCM

6

6-port AX/MX power hub

5

http://www.trossenrobotics.com/6-port-ax-mx-power-hub

7

USB extension cable

1

https://amzn.com/B00YBKA5Z0

Total cost with shipping and tax

Around 190-200

Note

The URLs and prices can vary. If the links are not available, a Google search might...

Interfacing Dynamixel with ROS


If you successfully configured the Dynamixel servo, then it will be very easy to interface Dynamixel with ROS running on Ubuntu. As we've already discussed, there is no need of an FTDI driver in Ubuntu because it's already built into the kernel. The only thing we have to do is install the ROS Dynamixel driver packages.

The ROS Dynamixel packages are available at the following link:

http://wiki.ros.org/dynamixel_motor

You can install the Dynamixel ROS packages using commands we'll look at now.

Installing the ROS dynamixel_motor packages

The ROS dynamixel_motor package stack is a dependency for the face tracker project, so we can install it to the ros_project_dependencies_ws ROS workspace.

Open a Terminal and switch to the src folder of the workspace:

$ cd ~/ros_project_dependencies_ws/src

Clone the latest Dynamixel driver packages from GitHub:

$ git clone https://github.com/arebgun/dynamixel_motor

Remember to do a catkin_make to build the entire packages of the...

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Key benefits

  • Create and program cool robotic projects using powerful ROS libraries
  • Work through concrete examples that will help you build your own robotic systems of varying complexity levels
  • This book provides relevant and fun-filled examples so you can make your own robots that can run and work

Description

Robot Operating System is one of the most widely used software frameworks for robotic research and for companies to model, simulate, and prototype robots. Applying your knowledge of ROS to actual robotics is much more difficult than people realize, but this title will give you what you need to create your own robotics in no time! This book is packed with over 14 ROS robotics projects that can be prototyped without requiring a lot of hardware. The book starts with an introduction of ROS and its installation procedure. After discussing the basics, you’ll be taken through great projects, such as building a self-driving car, an autonomous mobile robot, and image recognition using deep learning and ROS. You can find ROS robotics applications for beginner, intermediate, and expert levels inside! This book will be the perfect companion for a robotics enthusiast who really wants to do something big in the field.

Who is this book for?

This book is for robotic enthusiasts and researchers who would like to build robot applications using ROS. If you are looking to explore advanced ROS features in your projects, then this book is for you. Basic knowledge of ROS, GNU/Linux, and programming concepts is assumed.

What you will learn

  • • Create your own self-driving car using ROS
  • • Build an intelligent robotic application using deep learning and ROS
  • • Master 3D object recognition
  • • Control a robot using virtual reality and ROS
  • • Build your own AI chatter-bot using ROS
  • • Get to know all about the autonomous navigation of robots using ROS
  • • Understand face detection and tracking using ROS
  • • Get to grips with teleoperating robots using hand gestures
  • • Build ROS-based applications using Matlab and Android
  • • Build interactive applications using TurtleBot
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Length: 452 pages
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Language : English
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Table of Contents

12 Chapters
1. Getting Started with ROS Robotics Application Development Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
2. Face Detection and Tracking Using ROS, OpenCV and Dynamixel Servos Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
3. Building a Siri-Like Chatbot in ROS Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
4. Controlling Embedded Boards Using ROS Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
5. Teleoperate a Robot Using Hand Gestures Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
6. Object Detection and Recognition Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
7. Deep Learning Using ROS and TensorFlow Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
8. ROS on MATLAB and Android Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
9. Building an Autonomous Mobile Robot Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
10. Creating a Self-Driving Car Using ROS Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
11. Teleoperating a Robot Using a VR Headset and Leap Motion Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
12. Controlling Your Robots over the Web Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

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Daddy Joe Aug 20, 2019
Full star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon 1
My very first command FAILED with something about non-existent stuff. Can't get any support from anyone so I'm forced to return it. ROS is a fascinating subject but no more books from this author. This is the second I've had to return because of broken links and code or commands just not working. I guess I'm unlucky but I still have my money and know where NOT to go to learn about ROS.
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ALOK J SHUKLA May 16, 2018
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Very good material recommended for practicing Engineers in field of Embedded Systems, IOT & Networking
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CHETHAN S Mar 26, 2018
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Quick help, decent guide
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Amazon Customer Jan 31, 2018
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Excellent book with a very gentle ramp up for ROS and Ubuntu beginners that gets into very exciting projects. Well worth it.
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Mohit s. Jul 06, 2017
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon Empty star icon 3
See..when we invest in study material....we need them to be of great quality..... Lentin Joseph have done a great job with the content, "Hats off to him.", but the thing it lacked was publishing quality and print quality. I thought it was in color print and better paper quality but its not. It's not up-to the expectations.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
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