This guide provides step-by-step instructions for installing the RoboMaster Simulation running in CoppeliaSim using Pixi.
- Download CoppeliaSim for Apple Silicon or Intel
- Unzip and move to
/Applications/coppeliaSim.app - Right-click on
coppeliaSim.app-> Open -> Open - CoppeliaSim must be launched from the Terminal (this will become important later):
/Applications/coppeliaSim.app/Contents/MacOS/coppeliaSim
- Download CoppeliaSim for Ubuntu 22.04 or Ubuntu 24.04
- Extract CoppeliaSim in a directory of your choice, for example in your
COURSE_FOLDER:cd <COURSE_FOLDER> tar xvf CoppeliaSim_Edu_V4_7_0_rev4_Ubuntu<UBUNTU_VERSION>.tar.xz
- CoppeliaSim must be launched from the Terminal (this will become important later):
<PATH_TO_COPPELIA>/CoppeliaSim_Edu_V4_7_0_rev4_Ubuntu<UBUNTU_VERSION>/coppeliaSim.sh
We prepared a Pixi project for you with all required dependencies for using the RoboMaster in CoppeliaSim. You can set it up by cloning this repository:
git clone git@github.com:idsia-robotics/robotics-lab-usi-robomaster.git --recursiveUbuntu: You need to customize the COPPELIASIM_ROOT_DIR in the pixi.toml of this repo to point to your CoppeliaSim installation.
Now enter the repository, compile and install the packages:
cd robotics-lab-usi-robomaster
pixi install
pixi shell
colcon build --symlink-installYou can launch CoppeliaSim with this command. This is important to ensure that Coppelia is started with the correct environment variables to see the ROS packages installed in this repo:
source install/setup.zsh
pixi run coppelia- Open CoppeliaSim.
- Add a RoboMaster to the scene via:
Model browser (the left sidebar) -> robots -> mobile -> RoboMasterEP - Press play and ensure no errors are printed in the Coppelia log (Bottom).
With CoppeliaSim running and a Robomaster in the scene, run:
cd src/robomaster_sim/examples
pixi shell
python discover.pyThis script should find the RoboMaster in the scene, print some info about it, and close itself.
- macOS 15: This macOS update introduced stricter controls on local network access, which the RoboMaster ROS driver needs to communicate with the RoboMaster model in Coppelia. If communication fail with
ERROR conn.py:107 scan_robot_ip: exception timed out, please check that your terminal app (e.g. Terminal, iTerm, Visual Studio Code) is authorized to access the local network. Go in System Settings.app -> Privacy & Security -> Local Network and add / enable your terminal app.
You're ready to start using your simulated RoboMaster. While the simulation is running as described in the previous step, launch the RoboMaster ROS driver:
source install/setup.zsh
ros2 launch robomaster_ros ep.launchIn another terminal, inside the <ROS_PROJECT_FOLDER>.
pixi shell
ros2 topic pub /cmd_vel geometry_msgs/msg/Twist "{linear: {x: 0.0, y: 0.0, z: 0.0}, angular: {x: 0.0, y: 0.0, z: 0.5}}"The robot should start to rotate counter-clockwise.
Use this command to stop it:
ros2 topic pub /cmd_vel geometry_msgs/msg/Twist "{linear: {x: 0.0, y: 0.0, z: 0.0}, angular: {x: 0.0, y: 0.0, z: 0.0}}"Your installation is complete! π
