Real Time Linux PC Selection and Experimentation Workflow

General
1

I am new to running robotics experiments, and I am currently in the process of ordering the computer to use as the control PC to run real time Linux, which communicates with the Master Board via ethernet. I wanted to know if there are any special considerations or recommendations for choosing PC specifications, and for designing the experimentation workflow.

I am thinking of getting a standard tower PC and to attach a monitor, keyboard, mouse, and the robot to it so that I can use it for developing control software, test it in simulation, and run the scripts for real time robot control, all on the same computer (Option 1).

Another option may be to get a computer that specializes in running the real time robot control scripts, and to have a separate, non-real time computer for developing and simulating controllers (Option 2). This setup is probably similar to what is done for other quadruped robots that have a small embedded computer onboard the robot.

Which of the two PC setup options above is preferred? Are there any other considerations for the real time PC hardware selection?

2

Hi yunifuchioka,

besides ordering a PC with good performance and maybe an additional ethernet card to plug the master-board, we had good experience with running the rt_preempt patched linux kernel on different machines now. So I don’t think there is something special to watch out for.

Personally, I develop on an RT preempt patched machine and then run the robot from the same machine (option 1). This works without problems for me. Of course you can also do option 2.

BTW, for setting up the rt-preempt linux kernel, we have a script which should make the installation procedure easier:

ubuntu_installation_scripts/install_rt_preempt_kernel.sh at master · machines-in-motion/ubuntu_installation_scripts · GitHub

This is tested on Ubuntu 18.04 only though at this point but should work for other ubuntu versions as well.

1 Like
3

Hi @jviereck,

Thank you very much for the clear and fast response! I also appreciate the rt-preempt Linux kernel setup script–that should simplify installation later on.