/
Setting Up NAVQ Plus and iRobot Software

Setting Up NAVQ Plus and iRobot Software

Owned by Natalia Sofronova
Last updated: Mar 29, 2024
2 min read

1. Phase 1. NAVQ Plus Board Setup

Perform the following steps:

  1. Download the latest NAVQ Plus BSP images from the release page: https://staging.voxelbotics.com/releases/

  2. Decompress downloaded <release_ver>-ros2.wic.zst image, substituting the <release_ver> with the actual image version:

  3. zstd -d <release_ver>-ros2.wic.zst

  4. Connect a serial to the NAVQ Plus as described in Setting up the i.MX 8M Plus SOM Starter Kit | 3. Setting Up Serial Console

  5. Connect NAVQ Plus to the desktop via USB port #2 as described in Setting up the i.MX 8M Plus SOM Starter Kit | 4. Powering Up

  6. Program the unzipped image using UUU:
    Installing Linux to the EMMC Using USB Serial Downloader | 3. Installing Using USB Serial Downloader Protocol (SDP)

    sudo ./uuu -v -b emmc_all imx-boot-imx8mpnavq-sd.bin-flash_evk <release_ver>-ros2.wic

  7. Connect to local WLAN as described in Setting up Wi-Fi | 3. Using Wi-Fi in Linux

  8. Run the below command and remember the board’s IP from the command's output for future setup steps.

    ifconfig mlan0

    Output:

    mlan0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1500 inet 172.17.11.137 netmask 255.255.0.0 broadcast 172.17.255.255 ...

2. Phase 2. Setup iRobot Create3

Perform the following steps:

  1. Mount NAVQ Plus into the robot as described in Hookup Guide - Create® 3 Docs

  2. Switch USB/BLE toggle into the USB position (closer to the USB sign). See picture inAdapter Board - Create® 3 Docs

  3. Connect the PMD camera to NAVQ Plus USB port #1 using USB3.0 Type-C cable (must support at least 5Gbps speed).

  4. Configure USB port #1 on the NAVQ Plus board as host port:

    sudo sh -c 'echo host > /sys/kernel/debug/usb/38100000.usb/mode'

  5. Verify that the PMD camera is correctly recognized as USB3.0 device:

    lsusb -tv

    Output:

    /: Bus 02.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci-hcd/1p, 5000M ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub |__ Port 1: Dev 2, If 0, Class=Vendor Specific Class, Driver=, 5000M ID 1c28:c033 PMD Technologies /: Bus 01.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci-hcd/1p, 480M ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

3. Phase 3. Update iRobot Create3 Software

Perform the following steps:

  1. Download iRobot’s firmware:
    NOTE: this command is needed to be executed from the desktop computer, not from the serial terminal.

    wget https://edu.irobot.com/create3/firmware/H.0.0

  2. Boot the NAVQ Plus.

  3. Open SSH connection to NAVQ Plus with port forwarding to the iRobot Adapter board:
    NOTE: this command is needed to be executed from the desktop computer, not from the serial terminal.

    ssh user@<navqplus-ip> -L 8010:192.168.186.2:80

  4. Leave the session opened.

  5. Open web browser at address: http://127.0.0.1:8010/firmware-update.

  6. Push the Choose file button and navigate to the downloaded Create3-H.0.0.swu file and then push the Select button.

  7. Push the Upload file and update button and wait until the timeout is expired.

  8. Click on the Home tab button and check that the printed version is H.0.0.

4. Additional Information