sl-controls a4371f2a1d feat: Add Issue #203 - Node watchdog monitor (20Hz heartbeat detection)
Implements node watchdog ROS2 node that monitors heartbeats from critical
systems and triggers safety fallback when motor driver is lost >2s.

Features:
  - Monitor heartbeats from: balance, motor_driver, emergency, docking
  - Alert on /saltybot/node_watchdog (JSON) if heartbeat lost >1s
  - Safety fallback: zero cmd_vel if motor driver lost >2s
  - Republish cmd_vel on /saltybot/cmd_vel_safe with safety checks
  - 20Hz monitoring and publishing frequency
  - Configurable heartbeat timeout thresholds

Heartbeat Topics:
  - /saltybot/balance_heartbeat (std_msgs/UInt32)
  - /saltybot/motor_driver_heartbeat (std_msgs/UInt32)
  - /saltybot/emergency_heartbeat (std_msgs/UInt32)
  - /saltybot/docking_heartbeat (std_msgs/UInt32)
  - /cmd_vel (geometry_msgs/Twist)

Published Topics:
  - /saltybot/node_watchdog (std_msgs/String) - JSON status
  - /saltybot/cmd_vel_safe (geometry_msgs/Twist) - Safety-checked velocity

Package: saltybot_node_watchdog
Entry point: node_watchdog_node
Launch file: node_watchdog.launch.py

Tests: 20+ unit tests covering:
  - Heartbeat reception and timeout detection
  - Motor driver critical timeout (>2s)
  - Safety fallback logic
  - cmd_vel zeroing on motor driver loss
  - Health status JSON serialization
  - Multi-node failure scenarios

Co-Authored-By: Claude Haiku 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-03-02 11:18:50 -05:00
..

Jetson Nano — AI/SLAM Platform Setup

Self-balancing robot: Jetson Nano dev environment for ROS2 Humble + SLAM stack.

Stack

Component Version / Part
Platform Jetson Nano 4GB
JetPack 4.6 (L4T R32.6.1, CUDA 10.2)
ROS2 Humble Hawksbill
DDS CycloneDDS
SLAM slam_toolbox
Nav Nav2
Depth camera Intel RealSense D435i
LiDAR RPLIDAR A1M8
MCU bridge STM32F722 (USB CDC @ 921600)

Quick Start

# 1. Host setup (once, on fresh JetPack 4.6)
sudo bash scripts/setup-jetson.sh

# 2. Build Docker image
bash scripts/build-and-run.sh build

# 3. Start full stack
bash scripts/build-and-run.sh up

# 4. Open ROS2 shell
bash scripts/build-and-run.sh shell

Docs

Files

jetson/
├── Dockerfile              # L4T base + ROS2 Humble + SLAM packages
├── docker-compose.yml      # Multi-service stack (ROS2, RPLIDAR, D435i, STM32)
├── README.md               # This file
├── docs/
│   ├── pinout.md           # GPIO/I2C/UART pinout reference
│   └── power-budget.md     # Power budget analysis (10W envelope)
└── scripts/
    ├── entrypoint.sh       # Docker container entrypoint
    ├── setup-jetson.sh     # Host setup (udev, Docker, nvpmodel)
    └── build-and-run.sh    # Build/run helper

Power Budget (Summary)

Scenario Total
Idle 2.9W
Nominal (SLAM active) ~10.2W
Peak 15.4W

Target: 10W (MAXN nvpmodel). Use RPLIDAR standby + 640p D435i for compliance. See docs/power-budget.md for full analysis.