Test a wave rover with nvidia jetson

[rbo]

Decision, 2025-12-04

We stay with the GoPiGo!

Wave rover can be an option for NVIDIA Jetson + RHEL for edge. But not the new default robot.

Notes

• https://www.waveshare.com/wave-rover.htm
• https://www.amazon.de/Waveshare-Flexible-Expandable-Chassis-Multiple/dp/B0CF55LM6Q

Wave Rover + Camera = 167,77 Euro! Let's try it out...

[rbo]

Ordered.

[rbo]

Looks not too bad.

Problem is wireing between Wave rover and jetson origin -> Case created at waveshare.

PIN's on nvidia jetons:

Source

PIN's at wave rover:

[rbo]

Received the following Video link from Waveshare support: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_P2LfZAp9Q

In minuted 1:15 they mentioned a power cord to power the jetson. But that's not available at the wave rover.

👉🏼 Created a ticket!

2025-06-10, Response:

The wire is not included.

[rbo]

And for Batteries: https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0F1CWGR82?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

[rbo]

Let's try the fedora Image/SD Kart of #159

To get the serial example running from: https://www.waveshare.com/wiki/WAVE_ROVER

dnf install -y python3-pyserial 

Serial port /dev/serial0 or /dev/ttyAMA0 is missing.

root@robocop:~# ./get-line-mode.py
GPIO 00 Mode: Input
GPIO 01 Mode: Input
GPIO 02 Mode: Input
GPIO 03 Mode: Input
GPIO 04 Mode: Input
GPIO 05 Mode: Input
GPIO 06 Mode: Input
GPIO 07 Mode: Output
GPIO 08 Mode: Output
GPIO 09 Mode: Alt0
GPIO 10 Mode: Alt0
GPIO 11 Mode: Alt0
GPIO 12 Mode: Input
GPIO 13 Mode: Input
GPIO 14 Mode: Alt5
GPIO 15 Mode: Alt5
GPIO 16 Mode: Input
GPIO 17 Mode: Input
GPIO 18 Mode: Input
GPIO 19 Mode: Input
GPIO 20 Mode: Input
GPIO 21 Mode: Input
GPIO 22 Mode: Input
GPIO 23 Mode: Input
GPIO 24 Mode: Input
GPIO 25 Mode: Input
GPIO 26 Mode: Input
GPIO 27 Mode: Input
GPIO 28 Mode: Alt5
GPIO 29 Mode: Alt5
GPIO 30 Mode: Input
GPIO 31 Mode: Input
GPIO 32 Mode: Alt3
GPIO 33 Mode: Alt3
GPIO 34 Mode: Alt3
GPIO 35 Mode: Alt3
GPIO 36 Mode: Alt3
GPIO 37 Mode: Alt3
GPIO 38 Mode: Alt3
GPIO 39 Mode: Alt3
GPIO 40 Mode: Alt0
GPIO 41 Mode: Alt0
GPIO 42 Mode: Output
GPIO 43 Mode: Input
GPIO 44 Mode: Input
GPIO 45 Mode: Input
GPIO 46 Mode: Input
GPIO 47 Mode: Input
GPIO 48 Mode: Input
GPIO 49 Mode: Input
GPIO 50 Mode: Input
GPIO 51 Mode: Input
GPIO 52 Mode: Input
root@robocop:~#

[rbo]

Tried RaspianOS it just works:

root@robocop:~# python3 serial_simple_ctrl.py /dev/serial0

{"T":1,"L":0.2,"R":0.2}
Received: T":1,"L":0.2,"R":0.2}

[rbo]

set-line-mode.py

#!/usr/bin/env python
import mmap
import os
import struct

# import  iomem=relaxed!
#  vi /etc/default/grub
#  Add iomem=relaxed to GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX
#  grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg
#  reboot

GPIO_BASE = 0xFE200000  # Raspberry Pi 4 GPIO base address
GPFSEL_OFFSET = 0x00    # Offset for function select registers
BLOCK_SIZE = 4096
GPIO_PIN = 9

def set_gpio_alt(pin, alt):
    with open("/dev/mem", "r+b") as f:
        mm = mmap.mmap(f.fileno(), BLOCK_SIZE, offset=GPIO_BASE)

        reg_index = (pin // 10) * 4
        bit_pos = (pin % 10) * 3

        mm.seek(reg_index)
        reg_val = struct.unpack("<I", mm.read(4))[0]
        reg_val &= ~(7 << bit_pos)
        reg_val |= (alt << bit_pos)

        mm.seek(reg_index)
        mm.write(struct.pack("<I", reg_val))
        mm.close()


for GPIO_PIN in range(9, 12):
    set_gpio_alt(GPIO_PIN, 4)  # ALT0 = PWM0
    set_gpio_alt(GPIO_PIN, 4)  # ALT0 = PWM0
    set_gpio_alt(GPIO_PIN, 4)  # ALT0 = PWM0
    print(f"GPIO {GPIO_PIN:02d} set to ALT0 (PWM0)")

get-line-mode.py

#!/usr/bin/env python
import os
import mmap
import struct

# Constants
GPIO_BASE = 0xFE200000  # Use 0x7E200000 on older models
GPFSEL_OFFSET = 0x00    # GPFSEL0 starts at offset 0x00
GPFSEL_SIZE = 6        # Number of GPFSEL registers (for GPIO 0-53)

def get_gpio_function(gpio):
    """ Reads the GPIO function mode from /dev/mem """
    if gpio < 0 or gpio > 53:
        raise ValueError("GPIO pin must be between 0 and 53")

    # Open /dev/mem
    with open("/dev/mem", "rb") as f:
        # Map memory
        mem = mmap.mmap(f.fileno(), length=4096, offset=GPIO_BASE, access=mmap.ACCESS_READ)

        # Determine which GPFSEL register and bit position
        reg_index = gpio // 10
        bit_offset = (gpio % 10) * 3

        # Read the GPFSEL register
        mem.seek(GPFSEL_OFFSET + (reg_index * 4))
        reg_value = struct.unpack("<I", mem.read(4))[0]

        # Extract the 3-bit function value
        function = (reg_value >> bit_offset) & 0b111

        # Close memory map
        mem.close()

        return function

def decode_gpio_function(func):
    """ Decodes function select value to human-readable mode """
    modes = {
        0: "Input",
        1: "Output",
        2: "Alt5",
        3: "Alt4",
        4: "Alt0",
        5: "Alt1",
        6: "Alt2",
        7: "Alt3",
    }
    return modes.get(func, "Unknown")

# Example Usage
for gpio_pin in range(0, 53):  # range(start, stop) where stop is exclusive
    func_val = get_gpio_function(gpio_pin)
    print(f"GPIO %02d Mode: %s"%(gpio_pin,decode_gpio_function(func_val)))

[rbo]

✅ Control the robot via USB UART & Minicom

I see the rover booting (serial about) but the robot do not read the comments I'm sending via UART.

Same with the USB-C Port (9)

Source: https://www.waveshare.com/wiki/General_Driver_for_Robots

👉🏼 Created a ticket! (203768)

Update 2025-06-10,

🤔 with RaspianOS it just worked... #176 (comment)

Update 2025-07-10 (Added 2025-08-10)

Ticket response:

This requires checking your own script for sending json commands. The json command needs to end with \n, and the lower computer can only determine that the command has ended after receiving \n.

Update 2025-08-10

USB UART is working with python3 serial_simple_ctrl.py /dev/ttyUSB0. Important is the voltage: 5V! (I tried with 3V first)

I was not able to get minicom running.

[rbo]

Let's try the WiFi method.

Connect the ESP-32 to Pi4 and the Pi4 to our Robot Wifi (robot-hackathon-78b09)

Setup accesspoint on Fedora 42 Server

yum install -y hostapd dnsmasq
iw list | grep "valid interface combinations" -A 10
...
root@dev-robot:~# ip -br a
lo               UNKNOWN        127.0.0.1/8 ::1/128
end0             UP             192.168.66.71/24 2003:cc:9f0d:2800:f8c5:435e:eba0:193/128 2003:cc:9f0d:2800:bd1e:fd4b:48f4:968d/64 fd00:c0a8:42:0:8948:33f7:6ae4:5ae9/64 fe80::f8c5:435e:eba0:193/64
wlan0            UP             fe80::edf:9961:31ab:aa78/64
root@dev-robot:~# iw dev wlan0 interface add wlan1 type __ap
root@dev-robot:~# ip -br a
lo               UNKNOWN        127.0.0.1/8 ::1/128
end0             UP             192.168.66.71/24 2003:cc:9f0d:2800:f8c5:435e:eba0:193/128 2003:cc:9f0d:2800:bd1e:fd4b:48f4:968d/64 fd00:c0a8:42:0:8948:33f7:6ae4:5ae9/64 fe80::f8c5:435e:eba0:193/64
wlan0            DOWN
wlan1            DOWN
root@dev-robot:~# hostnamectl hostname robocop

# wlan1 survive a reboot:
echo 'ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="net", KERNEL=="wlan0", RUN+="/usr/sbin/iw dev wlan0 interface add wlan1 type __ap"' >> /etc/udev/rules.d/90-virtual-wlan1.rules

udevadm control --reload


nmcli con add type wifi ifname wlan1 con-name robocop-8afea \
  ssid robocop-8afea 802-11-wireless.mode ap \
  802-11-wireless.band bg \
  ipv4.method shared wifi-sec.key-mgmt wpa-psk wifi-sec.psk "xxx" \
  ipv4.addresses 192.168.9.2/24

ToDo: Maybe add 802-11-wireless.hidded

Connection tested from another laptop.

Configure the robot

{"T":404,"ap_ssid":"UGV","ap_password":"xxxx","sta_ssid":"robocop-8afea","sta_password":"xxx"}

=> Got STA Timeout

Connection via Laptop is possible:

root@robocop:~# iw dev wlan1 info
Interface wlan1
        ifindex 4
        wdev 0x2
        addr b2:3a:7a:e2:84:9a
        ssid robocop-8afea
        type AP
        wiphy 0
        channel 1 (2412 MHz), width: 20 MHz, center1: 2412 MHz
        txpower 31.00 dBm
root@robocop:~# iw dev wlan1 station dump
Station 52:4e:8b:dc:ef:d7 (on wlan1)
        inactive time:  0 ms
        rx bytes:       1329625526
        rx packets:     885353
        tx bytes:       22068600
        tx packets:     250616
        tx failed:      1
        tx bitrate:     72.2 MBit/s
        rx bitrate:     72.2 MBit/s
        authorized:     no
        authenticated:  yes
        associated:     yes
        WMM/WME:        yes
        TDLS peer:      no
        DTIM period:    2
        beacon interval:100
        short preamble: yes
        short slot time:yes
        connected time: 358 seconds
        current time:   1749544607354 ms
root@robocop:~#

Tried to connect to any other wifi, not possible. A always get a timeout.

👉🏼 Created a ticket! (203859)

[nexus-Six]

• Test Microshift on Rasbian @goetzrieger
• Test distance sensor @nexus-Six

Deadline 30.07