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Linux/AWR1642BOOST: AWR1642 ROS driver does not work with SDK 2.0 but 1.2

Part Number: AWR1642BOOST

Tool/software: Linux

Hi developers,

I just want to know how should I improve the ROS driver code for AWR1642BOOST (or related) to work with mmwave SDK version of 2.0. Now we are using SDK 1.2 and working smoothly without a problem. The traffic monitoring project on TI website: http://dev.ti.com/tirex/#/?link=Software%2FmmWave%20Sensors%2FIndustrial%20Toolbox%2FLabs%2FTraffic%20Monitoring  requires SDK 2.0 and we want to try the project out. However, last time when we are developing ROS driver using SDK 2.0 we got the error like this:

[ INFO] [1525387703.269924854]: mmWaveCommSrv: Sending command to sensor: 'flushCfg'
[ INFO] [1525387704.271056885]: mmWaveCommSrv: Received response from sensor: 'f]?'
[ERROR] [1525387704.272268335]: mmWaveQuickConfig: Command failed (mmWave sensor did not respond with 'Done')
[ERROR] [1525387704.272374496]: mmWaveQuickConfig: Response: 'f]?'
[mmWaveQuickConfig-3] process has died [pid 5529, exit code 1, cmd /home/leo/workspace/ti-awr1642/devel/lib/ti_mmwave_rospkg/mmWaveQuickConfig /home/leo/workspace/ti-awr1642/src/ti_mmwave_rospkg/cfg/1642_2d.cfg __name:=mmWaveQuickConfig __log:=/home/leo/.ros/log/1492010a-4f24-11e8-9a76-a0afbd9c01e4/mmWaveQuickConfig-3.log].
log file: /home/leo/.ros/log/1492010a-4f24-11e8-9a76-a0afbd9c01e4/mmWaveQuickConfig-3*.log

How should I improve the ROS driver to work with SDK 2.0?

Thank you in advance.

  • Hi Renyuan,

    Please note that SDK 2.0 works only with xWR1642 ES2.0 EVMs (which require SDK version 2.0 or above). These EVMs are marked with a sticker which says "ES2.0". EVMs which do not have this sticker have ES1.0 devices and require mmWave SDK version 1.xx.xx.xx. So please try this only if you have confirmed that you have an ES2.0 EVM.

    Assuming that you have an ES2.0 xWR1642BOOST EVM, you can run the existing ROS driver lab (for SDK 1.2.0.5) on it using the following steps:

    1. Flash the pre-compiled mmWave Demo binary from SDK 2.0 onto the ES2.0 EVM and make sure that you are able to get then demo working with the mmWaveDemoVisualizer and can see the point cloud.

    2. Update the profile config used by the ROS driver lab: ~/catkin_ws/src/ti_mmwave_rospkg/cfg/1642_2d.cfg. As mentioned in the migration notes section of mmWave SDK 2.0 Release notes, it is mandatory to enable ADC Low power mode so update the low power command to enable ADC Low power mode as following (also shown in the attached comparison snapshot). This is the only update needed and no other code changes are needed to port the ROS driver lab for SDK 2.0

    lowPower 0 1

    You should now be able to use the ROS driver lab with mmWave SDK 2.0 OOB Demo running on an ES2.0 xWR1642BOOST EVM.

    I would also like to mention that the mmWave ROS Driver Lab update for SDK 2.0 will be released on mmWave Industrial Toolbox in the future .

    Regards

    -Nitin