Skip to content

README.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
102 lines (78 loc) · 4.16 KB

README.md

File metadata and controls

102 lines (78 loc) · 4.16 KB
Raw

AIC Engine

The AIC Engine is the orchestrator for the AI for Industry Challenge. It manages trial execution, validates participant models, spawns task boards in simulation, and monitors task completion.

Overview

The engine operates as a state machine that progresses through the following states:

  1. Uninitialized → Initialized → Running → Completed (or Error)

For each trial, the engine executes these steps:

  1. Model Ready: Validates that the participant's lifecycle node is available and in the correct state
  2. Endpoints Ready: Ensures all required ROS nodes, topics, and services are available
  3. Simulator Ready: Spawns the task board with configured components in Gazebo
  4. Scoring Ready: Prepares the scoring system
  5. Task Started: Sends task goals to the participant model
  6. Task Completed: Monitors and validates task completion

How It Works

Lifecycle Node Validation

The engine validates that the participant model:

  • Is a properly implemented ROS 2 lifecycle node
  • Exposes standard lifecycle services (get_state, change_state)
  • Starts in the unconfigured state
  • Remains stationary (no robot movement) while unconfigured
  • Rejects action goals while in the configured state (before activation)

Task Board Spawning

The engine dynamically generates task boards based on YAML configuration files, supporting:

  • Configurable pose (position and orientation)
  • NIC card mounts on 5 rails (nic_rail_0 through nic_rail_4)
  • SC ports on 2 rails (sc_rail_0 and sc_rail_1)
  • LC, SFP, and SC mounts on 6 mount rails (lc_mount_rail_0/1, sfp_mount_rail_0/1, sc_mount_rail_0/1)
  • Adjustable translation and rotation for each component
  • Ground truth pose publishing (optional)

Trial Execution

Each trial is executed sequentially:

  1. Load trial configuration from YAML
  2. Validate configuration structure
  3. Progress through trial states
  4. Clean up (remove spawned entities)
  5. Move to next trial or complete

Usage

Running the Engine

ros2 run aic_engine aic_engine --ros-args \
  -p config_file_path:=/path/to/config.yaml \
  -p model_node_name:=aic_model \
  -p ground_truth:=false \
  -p endpoint_ready_timeout_seconds:=10 \
  -p model_discovery_timeout_seconds:=30 \
  -p model_configure_timeout_seconds:=60 \
  -p use_sim_time:=true

ROS Parameters

Parameter Type Default Description
config_file_path string "" Required. Path to the trial configuration YAML file
model_node_name string "aic_model" Name of the participant's lifecycle node
adapter_node_name string "aic_adapter_node" Name of the adapter node (future use)
gripper_frame_name string "gripper/tcp" Name of the gripper frame
ground_truth bool false Whether to publish ground truth poses from the task board
skip_model_ready bool false Skip model readiness checks (for testing only)
skip_ready_simulator bool false Skip simulator readiness and entity spawning/deletion (for testing only)
endpoint_ready_timeout_seconds int 10 Timeout for waiting for required endpoints
model_discovery_timeout_seconds int 30 Timeout for discovering the participant model
model_configure_timeout_seconds int 60 Timeout for model configuration checks
model_activate_timeout_seconds int 60 Timeout for model activation
model_deactivate_timeout_seconds int 60 Timeout for model deactivation
model_cleanup_timeout_seconds int 60 Timeout for model cleanup
model_shutdown_timeout_seconds int 60 Timeout for model shutdown

Environment Variables

Variable Default Description
AIC_RESULTS_DIR $HOME/aic_results Directory where scoring data and bag files will be written. If not set or empty, defaults to $HOME/aic_results

Testing

Run with a sample configuration:

ros2 run aic_engine aic_engine --ros-args \
  -p config_file_path:=$(ros2 pkg prefix aic_engine)/share/aic_engine/config/sample_config.yaml \
  -p skip_model_ready:=false \
  -p skip_ready_simulator:=false \
  -p use_sim_time:=true