hotdog

The bringup of HotDog on the Lynx M20: the robot profile, the M20 driver settings, the per-node overrides of the Dharma stack, and one launch for the whole robot (plus the same stack on the simulator).

Files

File
config/robot.yaml	the robot profile, /**: ros__parameters: robot: {...} (kinematics, footprint, limits, frames)
config/m20_driver.yaml	m20_driver as HotDog runs it: odometry as camera_init -> body, agile gait, speed clamps
config/stack.yaml	per-node overrides: odometry only, the merged Airy cloud, health topics
config/sim.yaml	on top of stack.yaml in sim.launch.py (dharma_sim's odometry, cloud and IMU)
launch/robot.launch.py	the M20 driver (m20_bringup), the LiDARs (hotdog_base) and the stack
launch/sim.launch.py	dharma_sim and the stack
hotdog/stack.py	the composition: package launch files, their arguments, the nodes they start
hotdog/bringup.py	argument validation, the robot profile check, parameter file merging
hotdog/launch_utils.py	the launch actions shared by both launch files

Launch

ros2 launch hotdog robot.launch.py                                      # the whole robot
ros2 launch hotdog robot.launch.py site:=gi_cawang robot_ip:=10.21.31.103
ros2 launch hotdog robot.launch.py robot_driver:= lidar:=external        # both run elsewhere
ros2 launch hotdog sim.launch.py rviz:=true scenario:=person_crossing

Argument	Default (env)
robot_params	config/robot.yaml (ROBOT_PARAMS)	robot profile file
params_file	(PARAMS_FILE)	this robot and site on top of config/stack.yaml (e.g. /etc/hotdog/site.yaml)
use_sim_time / log_level	/ info
robot_ns	m20 (ROBOT_NS)	driver namespace: /m20/cmd_vel, /m20/odom, /m20/imu, /m20/battery
robot_driver	m20_bringup (ROBOT_DRIVER)	<package>[/<file>.launch.py] started with namespace:=<robot_ns>; empty: elsewhere
robot_ip	(ROBOT_IP)	the M20's UDP server; empty: driver_params
driver_params	config/m20_driver.yaml (DRIVER_PARAMS)	this robot's m20_driver file (calibrated speeds, angle unit)
lidar	rslidar (LIDAR)	rslidar: rslidar_sdk for both Airy; external: the clouds come from elsewhere
site / sites_dir	(SITE, SITES_DIR)	the site whose routes are used; empty: from the parameter files (or the last site)
fiducials	false	camera throttle + tag detector (needs a calibrated camera)
camera_image / camera_info		empty: the perception defaults
health	true	start the health monitor
inspection / patrol	true (INSPECTION, PATROL)	inspection_node, patrol_node
alerts	true (ALERTS)	alert_node: Telegram and webhook alerts
reports	true (REPORTS)	report_node: HTML reports, retention, the report server (port 8088)
world / scenario / rviz	/ / false	simulator only

What the launch does:

1. Validates every argument and the robot profile (dharma_utils.robot.RobotProfile: unknown names and out-of-range values stop the launch with the reason).
2. Merges config/stack.yaml (+ config/sim.yaml) and params_file into one parameter file (later wins, parameter by parameter), adds every started node (the M20 driver's too) to the health monitor's nodes.expected, and reports sections that match no node (typos).
3. Starts m20_bringup with namespace, driver_params and robot_ip, then each package launch (dharma_odometry external, dharma_localization, hotdog_base, dharma_perception, dharma_mapping, dharma_navigation, dharma_control, dharma_health) in its own launch scope: no argument of this launch leaks into another.
4. The control mux is the only publisher of /m20/cmd_vel; navigation reads /m20/battery and /m20/odom.

Odometry only

HotDog maps nothing. The M20's dead reckoning is the odometry: m20_driver publishes it as camera_init -> body (config/m20_driver.yaml), which dharma_localization bridges into odom -> base_link (body is imu_link, the identity of base_link in the URDF), and the odometry start is the map origin (assume_start_origin). So:

• Start at the dock. Routes are taught and repeated relative to where the odometry started; the robot must start (and be re-anchored, /localization/assume_origin) on the same spot, the charging dock, every time.
• Drift is not corrected. Without tags or a map the error grows with distance; localization/status keeps reporting it as sigma. Keep rounds short enough, or add tags (fiducials:=true with a calibrated camera) for re-anchoring along the way.
• A driver restart resets the odometry. The odometry monitor reports the restart, localization drops to NONE and the follower pauses; return to the dock and call /localization/assume_origin again.

dharma_mapping still runs for the sites: each site is a folder of taught routes (<sites_dir>/<site>/routes/*.csv); its grid mapper stays idle.

Tests

test/unit (argument validation, parameter merging, the composition), test/ros (both launch files against stub packages, and ros2 launch --show-args when installed), test/test_style.py.

colcon build --packages-select hotdog && colcon test --packages-select hotdog