# EarthRover Mini Plus EarthRover Mini Plus The EarthRover Mini Plus is a fully open source mobile robot that connects through the cloud using the Frodobots SDK. This lets you control the robot and record datasets for training AI models. ## What You Need ### Hardware - EarthRover Mini robot - Computer with Python 3.12 or newer - Internet connection ### Setting Up the Frodobots SDK The robot needs the [Frodobots SDK](https://github.com/frodobots-org/earth-rovers-sdk) running on your computer. Here's how: 1. Download and install the SDK: ```bash git clone https://github.com/frodobots-org/earth-rovers-sdk.git cd earth-rovers-sdk pip install -r requirements.txt ``` 2. Save Credentials: Write your .env variables with the SDK API key and bot name provided by the Frodobots team. ```bash SDK_API_TOKEN=your_sdk_api_token_here BOT_SLUG=your_bot_slug_here CHROME_EXECUTABLE_PATH=/path/to/chrome_or_chromium # Default value is MAP_ZOOM_LEVEL=18 https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Zoom_levels MAP_ZOOM_LEVEL=18 MISSION_SLUG=your_mission_slug_here # Image quality between 0.1 and 1.0 (default: 0.8) # Recommended: 0.8 for better performance IMAGE_QUALITY=0.8 # Image format: jpeg, png or webp (default: png) # Recommended: jpeg for better performance and lower bandwidth usage IMAGE_FORMAT=jpeg ``` 3. Start the SDK: ```bash hypercorn main:app --reload ``` 4. Open your web browser and go to `http://localhost:8000`, then click "Join" The SDK gives you: - Live video from front and rear cameras > [!IMPORTANT] > The SDK must be running before you can use the robot. ## Install LeRobot Follow our [Installation Guide](./installation) to install LeRobot. In addition to the base installation, install the EarthRover Mini with hardware dependencies: ```bash pip install -e ".[hardware]" ``` ## How It Works The robot uses the internet to communicate: - **Movement commands**: Sent through the SDK - **Camera video**: Received from the SDK - **Robot info**: Battery, location, speed from the SDK You don't need to plug anything in - it all works through the SDK. ## Calibration No calibration needed! The robot is ready to use as soon as the SDK is running. ## Controlling the Robot You control the robot using your keyboard - just like playing a video game with WASD keys. ### Keyboard Controls | Key | Action | | --- | -------------------------------- | | W | Move forward | | S | Move backward | | A | Turn left (with forward motion) | | D | Turn right (with forward motion) | | Q | Rotate left in place | | E | Rotate right in place | | X | Stop all movement | | +/= | Increase speed | | - | Decrease speed | | ESC | Disconnect | ### Speed Settings You can adjust how fast the robot moves: - **Forward/backward speed**: Default is full speed (1.0) - **Turning speed**: Default is full speed (1.0) - **Speed changes**: Use +/- keys to adjust by 0.1 each time ### Try It Out Test driving the robot before recording data: ```python from lerobot.robots.earthrover_mini_plus import EarthRoverMiniPlus, EarthRoverMiniPlusConfig from lerobot.teleoperators.keyboard import KeyboardRoverTeleop, KeyboardRoverTeleopConfig # Initialize robot robot_config = EarthRoverMiniPlusConfig() robot = EarthRoverMiniPlus(robot_config) # Initialize teleoperator teleop_config = KeyboardRoverTeleopConfig( linear_speed=1.0, angular_speed=1.0, speed_increment=0.1 ) teleop = KeyboardRoverTeleop(teleop_config) # Connect robot.connect() teleop.connect() # Teleoperate (use keyboard controls) try: while True: action = teleop.get_action() robot.send_action(action) except KeyboardInterrupt: pass finally: robot.disconnect() teleop.disconnect() ``` > [!TIP] > If you're using a Mac, you might need to give Terminal permission to access your keyboard for teleoperation. Go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Input Monitoring and check the box for Terminal. ## Recording Data Once you can drive the robot well, you can start recording data to train AI models. The system records: - **What you do**: How you move the robot (forward, backward, turning) - **What the robot sees**: - Videos from both cameras - Robot speed and direction - Battery level and location - GPS position and signal - Other sensor data - **When it happened**: Timestamps for everything ### Setting Up Hugging Face We use Hugging Face to store your data online. First, log in with your token from [Hugging Face settings](https://huggingface.co/settings/tokens): ```bash hf auth login --token ${HUGGINGFACE_TOKEN} --add-to-git-credential ``` Store your Hugging Face username: ```bash HF_USER=$(hf auth whoami | awk -F': *' 'NR==1 {print $2}') echo $HF_USER ``` ### Start Recording Use the standard recording command: ```bash lerobot-record \ --robot.type=earthrover_mini_plus \ --teleop.type=keyboard_rover \ --dataset.repo_id=your_username/dataset_name \ --dataset.num_episodes=2 \ --dataset.fps=10 \ --dataset.single_task="Navigate around obstacles" \ --dataset.streaming_encoding=true \ --dataset.encoder_threads=2 \ # --dataset.rgb_encoder.vcodec=auto \ --display_data=true ``` Replace `your_username/dataset_name` with your Hugging Face username and a name for your dataset. ### What Gets Saved Your dataset includes: **Your Actions (2 features)**: - `linear_velocity`: How much you moved forward/backward - `angular_velocity`: How much you turned left/right **Robot Observations (24 features)**: - Front camera video - Rear camera video - Current speed - Battery level - Orientation - GPS (latitude, longitude, signal strength) - Network signal strength - Vibration level - Lamp state (on/off) - Accelerometer (x, y, z) - Gyroscope (x, y, z) - Magnetometer (x, y, z) - Wheel RPMs (4 wheels) ### Where Your Data Goes On your computer: `~/.cache/huggingface/lerobot/{repo-id}` After recording, your data automatically uploads to your Hugging Face page: ```bash echo https://huggingface.co/datasets/${HF_USER}/earthrover-navigation ``` Your dataset will be tagged with `LeRobot` for community discovery.