Robot Containers

This repository contains Dockerfiles for building containers for various robots. It also includes a python script run.py that wraps the docker command to enable:

• building, starting and entering the container in one step
• graphical applications
• nvidia GPU passthrough
• realtime scheduling
• host networking
• full external device access (USB, cameras, etc.)

Finally, it includes roboco, a script for generating a new project from the included Dockerfiles.

Table of Contents

• Requirements
• Installation
• Usage
  • Adding a container to your project
  • Running the container
  • Customising the container
• Available Dockerfile Templates
  • Hardware Drivers
  • Software Snippets
• Contributing
• Troubleshooting

Requirements

Python

• run.py is compatible with python 3.6 and above. This is the key requirement for running the containers.
• roboco, the templating script, is compatible only with python 3.7 and above. See docs/troubleshooting.md#problem-old-python-version for instructions if you are running python <= 3.6.

Docker

• Tested with Docker 20.10.23.

• Install on Ubuntu using sudo apt install docker.io (other installation methods may not play well with the nvidia-docker2 runtime.)

• Follow "Manage Docker as a non-root user" at https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/linux-postinstall/

nvidia-docker2 (for GPU support, optional)

• Install nvidia-docker2 by following https://docs.nvidia.com/datacenter/cloud-native/container-toolkit/install-guide.html#setting-up-nvidia-container-toolkit

VSCode Extensions (Optional)

• Docker extension - tested with v1.25.1
• Dev Containers extension https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers - tested with v0.292.0

Installation

Using pip

pip install roboco

Using git

git clone https://github.com/monashrobotics/robot_containers.git
cd robot_containers
pip install .

Usage

Adding a container to your project

roboco init

Follow the prompts to select the robot type and additional features.

Once completed, there will be two new files in your current directory: Dockerfile and run.py.

Running the container

Build the image and run the container using:

./run.py

Customising the container

The Dockerfile can be edited to add additional dependencies or change the base image.

When you make changes to the Dockerfile, you will need to rebuild the image using:

./run.py build

Then remove the old container and start a new one:

./run.py rm
./run.py

Available Dockerfile Templates

Dockerfile templates are available for the following robot / ROS / Ubuntu combinations.

Robot / ROS Distro (Ubuntu OS)	ROS 1 Noetic (20.04)	ROS 2 Foxy (20.04)	ROS 2 Humble (22.04)
ABB YuMi	WIP	❌	❌
Baxter	WIP	❌	❌
Fetch	WIP	❌	❌
Jackal	WIP	WIP	WIP
Panda	WIP	❌	WIP
Ridgeback	WIP	❌	❌
UR5	✅	❌	WIP

Generic ROS 1 and ROS 2 Dockerfile templates for the following distributions are also available:

• ROS 1 Kinetic (16.04)

• ROS 1 Melodic (18.04)

• ROS 1 Noetic (20.04)

• ROS 2 Foxy (20.04)

• ROS 2 Galactic (20.04)

• ROS 2 Humble (22.04)

• ROS 2 Iron (22.04)

Hardware Drivers

Snippets are available for these hardware drivers and ROS distro combinations:

Driver / ROS Distro (Ubuntu OS)	ROS 1 Noetic (20.04)	ROS 2 Foxy (20.04)	ROS 2 Humble (22.04)
RealSense Camera	WIP	WIP	WIP
Velodyne LiDAR	WIP	WIP	WIP
Robotiq 2F-85 Gripper	WIP	❌	❌
Robotiq FT-300 Force-Torque Sensor	WIP	❌	❌

Software Snippets

Snippets are available for the following software packages:

Software	ROS 1 Noetic (20.04)	ROS 2 Foxy (20.04)	ROS 2 Humble (22.04)
pytorch	WIP	WIP	WIP

Contributing

If there's a robot, or hardware driver that you'd like to see supported, please open an issue or pull request. See CONTRIBUTING.md

Troubleshooting

See docs/troubleshooting.md