Merge pull request #182 from FS-Online/docs-feedback

Docs improvements

Author: SijmenHuizenga

docs/getting-started.md

@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 # Getting started
 
 When running this simulator there are two main components: the simulator and the ros bridge.
-Your autonomous system and the ros bridge should use the same ros core, either by running on the same computer or through a network connection.
+Your autonomous system and the ros bridge should use the same ros core, either by running on the same computer or through a network connection. 
+It is required that the simulator and the ros bridge have the same version!
 
 This page is an overview of the different methods to get these components up and running.
 
@@ -41,6 +42,12 @@ Try driving the car around using the arrowkeys.
 If you want to run the unreal engine project from source you will need [unreal engine and visual studio 2019](software-install-instructions.md).
 On Ubuntu you can skip the visual studio 2019 part.
 
+#### Get the repository
+
+You can either download the repo using the big green download button on the [github page of this project](https://github.com/FS-Online/Formula-Student-Driverless-Simulator) or clone the repository. For cloning, checkout the documentation on this further down this page.
+
+When downloading or cloning, by default you get the latest, unreleased version. This is probably not the version that you want. Make sure you select the version that you need! 
+
 #### Compiling the AirSim plugin
 The Unreal Engine project requires the AirSim plugin.
 We have to compile this plugin first.
@@ -71,7 +78,8 @@ It might show an error like 'This project was made with a different version of t
 When asked to rebuild the 'Blocks' and 'AirSim' modules, choose 'Yes'.
 This is the step where the plugin part of AirSim is compiled.
 
-After some time Unreal Engine will start and you can launch the game.
+After some time Unreal Engine will start and you can launch the game. 
+Run the game in standalone mode or or selected viewport mode, simulate and eject mode do not support camera's.
 
 If you make changes to AirLib you have to run `build.cmd` again.
 
@@ -89,9 +97,9 @@ If you want to run it like it would run when packaged, choose 'Run as standalone
 The simulator exposes an RPC api that is used by the ros bridge to communicate with the vehicle.
 The ros bridge should preferable run on the same computer as the simulator to ensure low latency and high bandwidth.
 
-> It is theoretically possible to run the ros bridge on a different computer than the simulator.
-  However, this has not been tested recently and it might be broken.
-  You should look into the fsds_ros_bridge.launch file and check the `host_ip` variable.
+It is possible to run the ros bridge on a different computer than the simulator.
+To get this to work you should use the `host` argument in the `fsds_ros_bridge.launch` file.
+The ros bridge will connect to the simulator on port 41451.
 
 The ros bridge only works on Ubuntu.
 If you have the simulator running on windows we reccommend Windows Subsystem for Linux.
@@ -132,6 +140,8 @@ If you want to share the the clone directory with the Ubuntu WSL system, create
 ln -s /mnt/c/Users/developer/Formula-Student-Driverless-Simulator ~/Formula-Student-Driverless-Simulator
 ```
 
+Now, checkout the version equal to the simulator. If you are running for example simulator packaged version beta-3, run `git checkout beta-3` to get the ros brige to the same version
+
 ### Preparing AirLib
 
 AirLib is the shared code between the ros wrapper and the AirSim Unreal Engine plugin.
@@ -166,4 +176,4 @@ roslaunch fsds_ros_bridge fsds_ros_bridge.launch
 The ros bridge will read the settings from `~/Formula-Student-Driverless-Simulator/settings.json`.
 Make sure this is the same configuration file as the simulator uses.
 
-[Read all about configuring the ros bridge here.](ros-bridge.md)
+[Read all about configuring the ros bridge here.](ros-bridge.md)

docs/software-install-instructions.md

@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ You probably only need parts of it.
 The other guides in this documentation will tell you what you need.
 
 ## Install Unreal Engine (Windows)
+Ensure your windows user has no special characters! 
+If it contains special characters there will be a conflict with your Win10 user folder name, and mess up unreal engine reading the directory path.
+
 Go to [unrealengine.com](https://www.unrealengine.com/) and download the epic installer.
 You need an account for this.
 Install the epic installer.
@@ -71,4 +74,4 @@ It is easy to get this working though!
 Just install [Xming](https://sourceforge.net/projects/xming/) on windows, and run it.
 Next, go into the Ubuntu terminal and run `export DISPLAY=:0`.
 Now you can run any all them gui apps!
-You can even add `export DISPLAY=:0` to your `~/.bashrc` to always be able to use gui apps without having to manually run export.
+You can even add `export DISPLAY=:0` to your `~/.bashrc` to always be able to use gui apps without having to manually run export.

ros/src/fsds_ros_bridge/launch/fsds_ros_bridge.launch

@@ -27,7 +27,9 @@
 			<env name="OPERATOR_ACCESS_TOKEN" value="$(arg access_token)"/>
 		</node>
 
-		<node pkg="fsds_ros_bridge" name="cameralauncher" type="cameralauncher.py" output="screen"  required="true"/>
+		<node pkg="fsds_ros_bridge" name="cameralauncher" type="cameralauncher.py" output="screen"  required="true">
+			<param name="host_ip" type="string" value="$(arg host)" />
+		</node>
 
 	</group>
 

ros/src/fsds_ros_bridge/scripts/cameralauncher.py

@@ -4,9 +4,14 @@
 import json 
 import signal
 import sys
+import rospy
 
 CAMERA_FRAMERATE = 30
-AIRSIM_HOSTIP = "localhost"
+
+rospy.init_node('cameralauncher', anonymous=True)
+AIRSIM_HOSTIP = rospy.get_param("~host_ip")
+
+print(AIRSIM_HOSTIP)
 
 settings = {}