Carla for Truck Platooning

System Requirements

• Ubuntu 20.04. CARLA provides support for previous Ubuntu versions up to 16.04. However proper compilers are needed for Unreal Engine to work properly. Dependencies for Ubuntu 18.04 and previous versions are listed separately below. Make sure to install the ones corresponding to your system.
• 130 GB disk space. Carla will take around 31 GB and Unreal Engine will take around 91 GB so have about 130 GB free to account for both of these plus additional minor software installations.
• Enough memory space (add swap area). For better performance, using large (> 16 GB) memory is recommended. Setting swap area is also possible to prevent memory insufficiency.
• An adequate GPU. CARLA aims for realistic simulations, so the server needs at least a 6 GB GPU although 8 GB is recommended. A dedicated GPU is highly recommended for machine learning.
• Two TCP ports and good internet connection. 2000 and 2001 by default. Make sure that these ports are not blocked by firewalls or any other applications.
• Python 3.8 ++

Before installation, read Reference below is highly recommended.

1. Install Dependency

wget -O - https://apt.llvm.org/llvm-snapshot.gpg.key|sudo apt-key add -
sudo apt-add-repository "deb http://apt.llvm.org/focal/ llvm-toolchain-focal main"

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install build-essential clang-10 lld-10 g++-7 cmake ninja-build libvulkan1 python python-dev python3-dev python3-pip libpng-dev libtiff5-dev libjpeg-dev tzdata sed curl unzip autoconf libtool rsync libxml2-dev git
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/clang++ clang++ /usr/lib/llvm-10/bin/clang++ 180 &&
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/clang clang /usr/lib/llvm-10/bin/clang 180

pip install --user setuptools &&
pip3 install --user -Iv setuptools==47.3.1 &&
pip install --user distro &&
pip3 install --user distro &&
pip install --user wheel &&
pip3 install --user wheel auditwheel

2. Install Unreal Engine 4.26

• Clone the content for CARLA's fork of Unreal Engine 4.26 to your local computer:

  git clone --depth 1 -b carla https://github.com/CarlaUnreal/UnrealEngine.git ~/UnrealEngine_4.26
  

• Navigate into the directory where you cloned the repository:

  cd ~/UnrealEngine_4.26
  

• Make the build. This may take an hour or two depending on your system.

  ./Setup.sh && ./GenerateProjectFiles.sh && make
  

• Open the Editor to check that Unreal Engine has been installed properly.

  cd ~/UnrealEngine_4.26/Engine/Binaries/Linux && ./UE4Editor
  

3. Install Carla 0.9.15

• Install Dependency

  sudo apt install --reinstall build-essential clang-8 lld-8 g++-7 cmake vim ninja-build libvulkan1 python-dev python3-dev python3-pip libpng-dev libtiff5-dev libjpeg-dev tzdata sed curl unzip autoconf wget libtool rsync libxml2-dev
  

• Clone Calra Simulator

  cd
  git clone https://github.com/carla-simulator/carla
  cd ~/carla
  

• Get assets Refer this issue in case of error in CONTENT_LINK

  ./Update.sh
  

• Set Unreal Engine Environment Variables

  vi ~/.bashrc
  

• Insert this code in last line

  export UE4_ROOT=~/UnrealEngine_4.26
  

• Source Environment Variables

  source ~/.bashrc
  

• Build carla

  cd ~/carla
  make PythonAPI
  make launch
  

• We recommend to wait for shader compile after make launch to prevent lack of memory in futher steps

4. Import Truck & Trailer models

Install vehicle models

git clone https://github.com/ysrhee6199/CarlaSemiTruckTrailer.git

0. Merge PythonAPI & Unreal in carla directory

1. In Content/Carla/Blueprint/Vehicle, open the VehicleFactory file.

2. In the Generate Definitions tab, double click Vehicles.

3. In the Details panel, expand the Default Value section and add a new element to the vehicles array.

4. Fill in the Make and Model of your vehicle. For the truck name the Make: "DAFxf". And for the trailer name the Make: "trailer".

5. Fill in the Class value with your BP_<vehicle_name> file.

6. Optionally, provide a set of recommended colors for the vehicle. Name the "model" an "make" as below in the picture

7. Compile and save.

Test the vehicle

Launch CARLA, open a terminal in PythonAPI/examples and run the following command:

python3 manual_controlSemiTrailer.py

5. Import K-track Map

• Download files in carla-virtual-platoon/map_package
• Copy the files (k-track.fbx, k-track.xodr) to ~/carla/Import directory
• In ~/carla

  make import
  

• After then,

  make launch
  

6. Install ROS 2 (Galactic)

• Set locale

  locale  # check for UTF-8
  
  sudo apt update && sudo apt install locales
  sudo locale-gen en_US en_US.UTF-8
  sudo update-locale LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
  export LANG=en_US.UTF-8
  
  locale  # verify settings
  

• Setup sources

  sudo apt install software-properties-common
  sudo add-apt-repository universe
  

  sudo apt update && sudo apt install curl
  sudo curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ros/rosdistro/master/ros.key -o /usr/share/keyrings/ros-archive-keyring.gpg
  

  echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/ros-archive-keyring.gpg] http://packages.ros.org/ros2/ubuntu $(. /etc/os-release && echo $UBUNTU_CODENAME) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ros2.list > /dev/null
  

• Install ROS 2 packages

  sudo apt update
  sudo apt upgrade
  sudo apt install ros-galactic-desktop
  

• Colcon install

  sudo apt install python3-colcon-common-extensions
  

7. Install & Run bridge

• Create carla library

  cd ~/carla
  make setup
  make LibCarla
  

• Create ROS2 workspace

  source /opt/ros/galactic/setup.bash
  mkdir -p ~/ros2_ws/src
  

• Install packages

  cd ~/ros2_ws/src
  git clone https://github.com/AveesLab/carla-virtual-platoon.git
  

• Set environmental variable

  vi ~/.bashrc
  

• Insert this code in last line

  export CARLA_ROOT=~/carla
  export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:$CARLA_ROOT/PythonAPI/carla/dependencies/lib
  

• Source bash configuration

  source ~/.bashrc
  

• Packages build

  cd ~/ros2_ws
  source /opt/ros/galactic/setup.bash
  colcon build --symlink-install
  source ./install/setup.bash
  

8. Run

• Carla launch

  cd ~/carla
  make launch
  

• Run Server

• Run ros2 launch

  source ~/ros2_ws/install/setup.bash
  
  # Map = {k-track, Town04_Opt}
  ros2 launch carla-virtual-platoon carla-virtual-platoon.launch.py NumTrucks:=3 Map:=Town04_Opt
  
  or
  
  ros2 launch carla-virtual-platoon carla-virtual-platoon.launch.py NumTrucks:=3 Map:=k-track
  

9. ROS2

Sensor related parameters

You can change the names and parameters of the sensors(camera,lidar,etc) inside config/config.yaml.

Published Topics

• /truck{n}/front_camera ([sensor_msgs/msg/Image])

  Publishes image data captured by the Carla simulator.

• /truck{n}/front_lidar ([sensor_msgs/msg/PointCloud2])

  Publishes PointCloud data generated by lidar

• /truck{n}/velocity ([std_msgs/msg/Float32])

  Publishes the current velocity (m/s) of truck{n} every millisecond.

Subscribed Topics

• /truck{n}/steer_control ([std_msgs/msg/Float32])

  Subscribes to steering control values (in degrees).

• /truck{n}/throttle_control ([std_msgs/msg/Float32])

  Subscribes to control values for throttle. If the value is greater than zero, it controls the throttle; if it's less than zero, it applies the brake.

10. Reference

• Carla Linux Build Official Documentation
• ROS2 Installation (Galactic, Foxy) Documentation