VantTec USV Main Repository

This is the main working repository for the USV (Unmanned Surface Vehicle) VantTec Platform. Official documentation here.

Prerequisites

1. CUDA 12.8 Toolkit
2. CUDNN 8.9.7
3. TensorRT 10.3.0
4. ZED SDK
5. Gazebo Sim - Harmonic
6. Install the following dependencies:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:borglab/gtsam-release-5.1
sudo apt install libgtsam-dev libgtsam-unstable-dev ros-humble-xacro libpcap-dev ros-humble-robot-localization ros-humble-perception-pcl ros-humble-pcl-msgs ros-humble-vision-opencv ros-humble-tf-transformations ros-humble-foxglove-bridge ros-humble-nmea-msgs ros-humble-joy-teleop libgz-sim8 libgz-sim8-dev ros-humble-ros-gz ros-humble-ros-gzharmonic

# Install other missing dependencies automatically if needed:
rosdep install --from-paths src -y --ignore-src

7. Download the gz sim waves plugin

# Install the plugin dependenciess
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install libcgal-dev libfftw3-dev

# Create a ws for the plugin
cd
mkdir -p gz_ws/src

# Clone the repo
cd ~/gz_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/srmainwaring/asv_wave_sim.git

# Specify $GZ_VERSION before compiling
export GZ_VERSION=harmonic

# Compile it
colcon build --symlink-install --merge-install --cmake-args \
-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RelWithDebInfo \
-DBUILD_TESTING=ON \
-DCMAKE_CXX_STANDARD=17

# Also build the GUI plugin
cd ~/gz_ws/src/asv_wave_sim/gz-waves/src/gui/plugins/waves_control 
mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. && make

8. Setup Gz Sim and the waves plugin, by adding these lines to the end of your ~/.bashrc file

source ~/gz_ws/install/setup.bash

export GZ_VERSION=harmonic

export GZ_SIM_RESOURCE_PATH=:~/vanttec_usv/src/usv_description/models:$GZ_SIM_RESOURCE_PATH

# ensure the model and world files are found
export GZ_SIM_RESOURCE_PATH=\
$GZ_SIM_RESOURCE_PATH:\
$HOME/gz_ws/src/asv_wave_sim/gz-waves-models/models:\
$HOME/gz_ws/src/asv_wave_sim/gz-waves-models/world_models:\
$HOME/gz_ws/src/asv_wave_sim/gz-waves-models/worlds

# ensure the system plugins are found
export GZ_SIM_SYSTEM_PLUGIN_PATH=\
$GZ_SIM_SYSTEM_PLUGIN_PATH:\
$HOME/gz_ws/install/lib

# ensure the gui plugin is found
export GZ_GUI_PLUGIN_PATH=\
$GZ_GUI_PLUGIN_PATH:\
$HOME/gz_ws/src/asv_wave_sim/gz-waves/src/gui/plugins/waves_control/build

9. Download and build this workspace

# Clone repository and its submodules
cd
git clone http://github.com/vanttec/vanttec_usv.git
cd vanttec_usv
git submodule update --init --recursive

# Build the usv_interfaces package first
colcon build --packages-select usv_interfaces

# Set environment variables with install/setup.bash file
source ./install/setup.bash

# Build the rest of the packages
colcon build

10. Install fatrop for usv_control's MPC's functionalities

# For the official, latest instructions, visit the fatrop repository

######

# Installing blasfeo from source 
cd
git clone https://github.com/giaf/blasfeo.git
cd blasfeo
mkdir build
cd build

# Configure project (if you have a different architecture, please refer to blasfeo's repository to view complete list of options)
cmake .. -DTARGET=X64_INTEL_CORE -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local
make -j$(nproc)

# Install blasfeo
sudo make install

######

# Installing fatrop
cd ~/vanttec_usv/src/usv_control/libs/fatrop/
mkdir build
cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local
make -j$(nproc)
sudo make install

######

# Install CASADI's dependency
sudo apt-get install swig

# Install CASADI
cd
git clone https://github.com/casadi/casadi.git
cd casadi
mkdir build
cd build
cmake .. \
    -DWITH_IPOPT=ON -DWITH_BUILD_IPOPT=ON \
    -DWITH_BUILD_MUMPS=ON -DWITH_BUILD_METIS=ON \
    -DWITH_FATROP=ON \
    -DWITH_PYTHON=ON -DWITH_PYTHON3=ON \
    -DPYTHON_PREFIX=$(python3 -c 'from distutils.sysconfig import get_python_lib; print(get_python_lib())') \
    -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local \
    -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
make -j$(nproc)
sudo make install

# Finally, go back to the fatrop dir. to build for CASADI
cd ~/vanttec_usv/src/usv_control/libs/fatrop/build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local
make -j$(nproc)
sudo make install

# Test the fatrop interface
cd ~/vanttec_usv/src/usv_control/libs/fatrop/examples/
python3 car_reference_tracking_example.py

Congratulations, you're ready to navigate the future @ VantTec!