Introduction
Hello, and welcome to Altos Radar! We’re happy you have chosen to evaluate our product. To make the set-up process smooth, this guide will walk you through the steps.
Components
First, let’s make sure you have all the required components. Your sample kit should contain the following; if it does not, stop and contact us at support@altosradar.com.
- Altos Radar V1 imaging radar sample
- Cable harness
You also need an ethernet cable and a power adapter. This depends on your specific use case (standalone, mounted on test vehicle, etc.) and will be communicated to you when you purchase your evaluation kit.
Additionally, you will also need a laptop on which you can install Ubuntu (highly recommended). If you cannot natively install Ubuntu, you can also use a virtual machine (more details provided later).
If your laptop does not have an ethernet port, you will need a USB-A/USB-C adapter.
Now that you have all the components, we will set up the software required for operation.
Software Setup
In this stage, we will set up the software required.
Install Ubuntu Natively (Recommended)
Evaluating the Altos V1 radar sample requires Ubuntu 20.04 (Focal Fossa) or higher. We highly recommend installing Ubuntu natively on a dedicated laptop for the demo.
Please reference the following guide to install Ubuntu natively on your laptop: phoenixnap.com/kb/install-ubuntu-20-04. You can download the AMD64 Ubuntu 20.04 image here: releases.ubuntu.com/focal.
Install Ubuntu in a Virtual Machine (Alternative, Not Recommended)
If you do not have access to a dedicated laptop on which you can install Ubuntu 20.04, you can also install the operating system in a virtual machine on a Windows host. However, this is discouraged, since correct operation cannot be guaranteed.
VMWare Workstation Player running on a Windows host machine is required. Download and install VMWare Workstation Player: www.vmware.com/products/workstation-player/workstation-player-evaluation.html.
Reference the following guide to install Ubuntu 20.04 as a virtual machine: robodev.blog/ros-installation-part-1-install-ubuntu-2004. You can download the AMD64 Ubuntu 20.04 ISO image here: releases.ubuntu.com/focal.
Install ROS Noetic as Example
Boot the machine on which you installed Ubuntu 20.04.
Install ROS Noetic on your machine using the following guide: wiki.ros.org/noetic/Installation/Ubuntu.
Install Demo Software
Open a terminal prompt and run the following commands:
mkdir ~/altos
cd ~/altos
git clone https://github.com/Altos-Radar/altosRadarRos.git
cd altosRadarRos
catkin_make
Wait a moment for the demo software to build.
Hardware Setup
We will now set up the hardware required for the demo.
Connect Components
First, connect the male power source to the female power port on the harness. Ensure the power source is properly connected. This will depend on your specific use case and power adapter; in the following images, the radar is used in standalone mode with a 12V 3A 5.5x2.1 mm power source. (9-36V and 25+W is needed)
Next, connect the ethernet cable to the female adapter on the harness.
Next, connect the harness to the female port on the back of the V1 sample.
Connect the ethernet cable from the V1 sample to your laptop on which you performed the software setup. If using a USB-C/USB-A adapter, please see the warning regarding approved adapters in the “Components” section.
Plug in the power source. The board will now power on, which should take approximately 20 seconds.
Demo Setup
We will now configure Ubuntu and start the demo application.
Configure Network
Your board should be powered on and connected via ethernet (using an approved adapter if necessary) to the laptop on which you prepared the necessary software.
Open Settings in Linux and navigate to the Network tab.
If your machine has a separate network card, you will see multiple devices as in the screenshot above. Find the device that corresponds to the ethernet connection to the V1 sample. In the above image, a USB-C adapter was used, so the device appears as “USB Ethernet.”
Click the gear icon next to the network device corresponding to the ethernet connection to the V1 sample. Navigate to the IPv4 tab. Under the IPv4 Method section, select Manual. Under the Addresses section, add a new entry with the following values:
Address: 192.168.3.1
Netmask: 255.255.255.0
Leave the Gateway field empty. The window should now appear like this.
Apply the changes.
Configure Radar
Before starting the demo, some basic calibration information, such as the height of the radar, must be entered. The “z” information output from the radar is correct only when the height of the radar is entered properly.
The Altos V1 sample has an embedded web server to make this calibration simple.
First, open a web browser (Firefox) and navigate to the following address:
192.168.3.10
You should see a page such as the following.
Your radar should now be mounted or positioned for the demo. Measure the distance from the center of the radar to the ground. Under the “Alg params config” section, enter the measured radar height in the “RadarHeight” flag in centimeters.
Press submit to save the configuration changes.
After configuration, restart the sensor by disconnecting and reconnecting power (by removing and re-attaching the cable harness from the female port on the V1 sample).
Start the Demo
Point the black-facing side of your connected V1 sample at a suitable environment for the demo. Open a terminal window and run the following commands to start the demo application.
cd ~/altos/altosRadarRos
./start.sh
A rviz window and two terminal windows should appear as the demo begins execution. After a few moments, you should see a point cloud as in the image below.
To stop the demo, enter Ctrl+C in the two terminal windows that spawned. The point cloud display and terminal windows will exit.
If you do not see a point cloud, please verify that your machine is receiving data from the sensor by navigating to the terminal window that lists the received data packets. You should a series of messages such as those shown in the following image.
If you instead see the following message, your machine is not receiving data from the sensor.
Ensure all the connections in the Hardware Setup section were properly made and that the connection between the V1 sample and your machine is secure. You may also try to restart the demo application.
If you are still having issues with the demo, please see the next section, Support.
Support
If you are still having issues with the demo application or cannot see a point cloud after following the steps above, please make a post under the Support category on the Altos Radar forums: forum.altosradar.com/c/support/6.
To ensure we can resolve the problems you are facing efficiently, please give us the complete technical specification of the set-up on which you have configured the demo software to run and any steps required to reproduce it. Additionally, provide any necessary logs that detail the issue.
If you require further assistance, you can contact our team directly by emailing support@altosradar.com. We will reply to you as soon as possible.