Dingo Tests

Dingo robots come preinstalled with a set of test scripts as part of the dingo_tests ROS package, which can be run to verify robot functionality at the component and system levels.

If your Dingo does not have the dingo_tests ROS package installed already, you can manually install it by opening terminal and running:

sudo apt-get install ros-noetic-dingo-tests

ROS Tests

The ros_tests script exposes a set of interactive tests to verify the functionality of core features. These tests run at the ROS-level via ROS topics, and serve as a useful robot-level diagnostic tool for identifying the root cause of problems, or at the very least, narrowing down on where the root cause(s) may be.

Running ROS Tests

To run ros_tests on a Dingo robot, open terminal and run:

rosrun dingo_tests ros_tests

Upon running ros_tests, a list of available tests will be shown in a menu. From the menu, you can choose individual tests to run, or simply choose the option to automatically run all the tests.

The details of each test are shown below.

Lighting Test

The Lighting Test checks that the robot’s lights are working properly.

This test turns the lights off, red, green, and blue (in order) by publishing lighting commands to the /cmd_lights ROS topic. The user will be asked to verify that the lights change to the expected colours.

Motion Stop Test

Note

This test is formerly called the E-Stop Test.

The Motion Stop Test checks that the robot’s motion stop is working properly.

This test subscribes to the /mcu/status ROS topic and checks that when the motion stop is manually engaged by the user, the motion stop state is correctly reported on the /mcu/status ROS topic. The user will be asked to verify that the lights flash red while the motion stop is engaged.

ADC Test

The ADC Test checks that the robot’s voltage and current values across its internal hardware components are within expected tolerances.

This test subscribes to the /mcu/status ROS topic and checks that the voltage and current values across the internal hardware are within expected tolerances.

Rotate Test

The Rotate Test rotates the robot counter clockwise 2 full revolutions and checks that the motors, IMU, and EKF odometry are working properly.

This test:

  • Subscribes to the /imu/data ROS topic to receive angular velocity measurements from the IMU’s Gyroscope. These measurements are converted into angular displacement estimations, and the robot will rotate until 2 full revolutions are estimated.

  • Subscribes to the /odometry/filtered ROS topic to receive angular velocity estimations from the EKF odometry. These measurements are converted into angular displacement estimations, and are output as comparison to the angular displacement estimations from the IMU’s Gyroscope.

  • Publishes to the /cmd_vel ROS topic to send drive commands to rotate the robot.

  • The user will be asked to verify that the robot rotates 2 full revolutions.

Note

The Rotate Test rotates the robot using the IMU’s Gyroscope data, which inherently will not be 100% accurate. Therefore, some undershoot/overshoot is to be expected.

Drive Test

The Drive Test drives the robot forward 1 meter and checks that the motors, encoders, and encoder-fused odometry are working properly.

This test:

  • Subscribes to the /dingo_velocity_controller/odom ROS topic to receive linear displacement estimations from the encoder-fused odometry. The robot will drive forward until 1 meter is estimated.

  • Subscribes to the /feedback ROS topic to receive linear displacement measurements from the individual encoders. These measurements are output as comparison to the linear displacement estimations from the encoder-fused odometry.

  • Subscribes to the /joint_state ROS topic to receive linear displacement measurements from individual the encoders. These measurements are output as comparison to the linear displacement estimations from the encoder-fused odometry.

  • Publishes to the /cmd_vel ROS topic to send drive commands to drive the robot.

  • The user will be asked to verify that the robot drives forward 1 meter.

Note

The Drive Test drives the robot using the Odometry data, which inherently will not be 100% accurate. Therefore, some undershoot/overshoot is to be expected.

Cooling Test

The Cooling Test is an optional test that only applies to Dingo’s with an external fan connected to the MCU, and checks that the external fan is working properly.

This test makes the fan spin at different speeds by publishing fan speed commands to the /mcu/cmd_fans ROS topic. The user will be asked to verify that the fan change to the expected speeds.

CAN Bus Test

The check_can_bus_interface script checks that communication between the motors, encoders, robot’s MCU, and robot’s computer are working properly over the CAN bus interface.

This script verifies that the can0 interface is detected and activated, then proceeds to check the output of candump to verify that good CAN packets are being transmitted. Based on the Dingo configuration, either Dingo-D or Dingo-O, this script will know to check for good CAN packets from 2 or 4 encoders, respectively.

Running CAN Bus Test

To run the check_can_bus_interface script on a Dingo robot, open terminal and run:

rosrun dingo_tests check_can_bus_interface