The "" configuration dialog provides options to dictate how the robot connects to the wireless network and the ROS network that sits on top of it, to suit your local environment. Here we illustrate the options.
Network addressing mode
Select either dynamic, static or loopback.
This is the most usual option. A DHCP server on your network will assign the robot an IP address dynamically, and the robot will use this to identify itself. To connect to your robot via
ssh, you can recover the IP address from the Management page.
In this mode, you can specify the dynamic network address recovery time, which is the length of time the system will wait for a connection (and a network address) at boot time before continuing to start the on-board systems. The default (60 seconds) should be suitable for most configurations, since this is enough time for a network connection to be made. If your configuration does not need to wait for the network, you can use a value of zero; if you must have a network connection, use a value of "inf" (infinite wait).
If for any reason you prefer not to use DHCP (perhaps no DHCP server is available locally) you can instead use static address mode.
In this mode, you must provide that address in the "Static network address" text box.
If you intend only to run components (controllers) on board the robot, you may choose to use the loopback interface. This may reduce problems with network latency for some configurations, but it will not be possible to control or receive signals from your robot from the wider network.
Network address of ROS master
Leave this setting empty, and a ROS master (
roscore) will be started on-board once a network address is available at boot time. This is the usual configuration when operating only one robot, and is the default.
If you want to connect to an off-board ROS master, provide its network address. No master will be started on board at boot time, and the on-board ROS nodes will attempt to connect to a ROS master at the specified address. This is the usual configuration if you need to talk to more than one robot, or have multiple robots communicate with one another.
If you are running multiple robots on the same ROS master (usually, an off-board ROS master), you will need to provide a unique name to each so that their ROS topics do not conflict. Enter any alphanumeric name in the box provided.