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Ubuntu Linux and Husarion's CORE2-ROS Make Robot Development Easy and Fun

It supports Raspberry Pi 3 and ASUS Tinker Board SBCs

Jul 16, 2017 22:00 GMT  ·  By
CORE2 and CORE2-ROS
   CORE2 and CORE2-ROS

Building robots is a challenging task, even for Husarion, a robotic company known for creating a rapid development platform for robots called CORE2-ROS, which, in combination with the popular Ubuntu OS, makes robot development easy and fun.

Husarion's Dominik Nowak explains in a recent blog article how CORE2, the company's second generation robotics controller, and their cloud platform that helps them manage all CORE2-based robots assists those interested in creating robots, using only an SBC (single-board computer) like Raspberry Pi with Ubuntu Linux pre-installed and a real-time microcontroller board.

"Building robots is a challenging task that the Husarion team is trying to make easier," said Dominik Nowak, CEO at Husarion. "CORE2 combines a real-time microcontroller board and a single board computer running Ubuntu. Ubuntu is the most popular Linux distribution not only for desktops but also for embedded hardware in IoT & robotics applications."

Husarion's CORE controller is available in two variants, supports Raspberry Pi 3

Two variants of the CORE2 controller are available, giving developers more flexibility when trying to create a robot. While the first one comes with an ESP32 Wi-Fi module and it's targeted at robotic applications that require secure, real-time remote control and low-power consumption, the second one integrates two boards and it's called CORE2-ROS.

The two boards integrated into CORE2-ROS are a single-board computer powered by Ubuntu Linux and ROS (Robot Operating System) software for creating robot applications and a board with a real-time microcontroller, which runs a Real-Time Operating System (RTOS)-based firmware and integrates interfaces for sensors, motors, and encoders.

Powered by an STM32F4 series microcontroller, the second board in CORE2-ROS does all the job, including reading encoders, driving motors, and communicating with sensors. Basically, it's used for controlling the entire robotic system. Best of all, the CORE2-ROS controller is available in two configurations on its own, supporting either the popular Raspberry Pi 3 SBC or ASUS Tinker Board.

Software wise, CORE2-ROS supports Ubuntu, ROS packets, and Husarion's in-house built development and management tools. It's also compatible with the Arduino libraries, and it can be backed right now on Crowd Supply for as low as $89 USD for the first model or $99 for the second one. Stay tuned to find out why Husarion decided to use Ubuntu.