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Panther - quick start

Panther is a rugged Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) platform, engineered for demanding outdoor environments. Equipped with high-profile wheels and four powerful BLDC motors, plus an IP54/66-rated chassis, it’s designed to tackle the toughest challenges. Panther’s versatility enables seamless integration of LIDAR, 3D cameras, manipulators, and other components through its V-slot mounting rail, available power ports, and extensive communication interfaces. With open-source ROS and ROS 2 drivers, along with a robust suite of software examples, Panther makes developing your product or research project both simple and intuitive.

How to get it?

If you don't have Panther yet, you can get it from the online store.

Looking for a manual?

This is a quick-start guide. If you need a manual instead, you can find it here

Unboxing​

Package Content​

The standard package contains:

  • Panther robot
  • Accessories box with:
    • charger
    • Logitech f710 gamepad
    • RUTX11 accessories
info

The content of the package may vary depending on the additional elements bought alongside Panther.

Unboxing Robot​

The Panther robot is shipped by default in a wooden box, such as the one shown below. Unboxing the robot is quick and simple and can be done in a few simple steps. Follow the instructions below when you receive your robot.

First, unlock and open the box's front side.

Check if it is possible to drive the robot out of the box (it may require removing some elements first, like the accessories box). If so, you can continue with the next step. Otherwise, go to the Disassembling the Box section.

Cut the white stripes holding the robot and remove additional kits, such as the accessories box, etc. Now, you can pull the robot out of the box using its bumper.

caution

If you feel resistance when pulling Panther out, go to the stage of disassembling the box. Otherwise, the extracted elements may be damaged.

Disassembling the Box​

If it is impossible to drive the robot out, it is necessary to partially disassemble the box. Unscrew the screws holding the box's upper part to its bottom, as shown below. Then, carefully remove the box's upper part.

Cut the white stripes holding the robot and remove additional kits, such as the accessories box, etc. Now you can safely move the Panther off the platform.

Quick Demo​

Before the first use

We know that you would really like to read the Quick Demo section now, but your safety is the most important thing.

A brief safety information

  1. Please read the Safety instructions first.
  2. If you are not sure how something works, please read the Panther manual.
  3. Please remember that the mechanical Emergency Button is available on the robot as well as software one in the WebUI (on the screen) and the Gamepad, but in some cases, you may not be able to use them quickly enough to stop the robot before causing damage.
  4. A detailed description of the safety features is available in the Safety section.

Here is a very basic demo that allows you to use your Panther for the first time without coding:

Rotate the two-position Main Switch to the ON position. Push the Power Button for 1 second, a red light on the Power Button, and the LED panels on the Bumpers (called Bumper Lights) will light up. Wait for Wi-Fi to come up:

LOGIN CREDENTIALS

SSID: Panther_<serial_number>

PASS: husarion

Controlling Panther using the included Gamepad will work as soon as the wireless USB receiver is plugged into the robot. To get access to the WebUI check the WebUI installation guide.

Connecting Panther to Your Wi-Fi Network​

Connect to Panther's Built-in Computer using SSH:

user@mylaptop:~$
ssh husarion@10.15.20.2

The default password for user husarion is also husarion.

When you are connected to your robot, you should open ~/panther_rutx11/config.json file.

husarion@10.15.20.2:~$
nano panther_rutx11/config.json

Edit the section named wifi_client filling in your SSID and matching password. If you want to connect to multiple networks duplicate whole block, Panther will try to connect to them in given order. If you want to connect to open network leave password field empty:

    "wifi_client":[
        {
            "ssid":"YourProtectedNetwork",
            "password":"YourPassword"
        },
        {
            "ssid":"YourOpenNetwork",
            "password":""
        }

    ]
WI-FI BAND

By default Panther uses 2.4 GHz WiFi for uplink, if you want to use 5 GHz change value of key "wifi_client_radio":0 to "wifi_client_radio":1

Save by pressing Ctrl+O and exit by Ctrl+X. To apply new settings, execute python script by command:

husarion@10.15.20.2:~$
panther_rutx11/setup_wifi.py

When Panther connects to our network, the message Success will be shown.

WI-FI RANGE

Wi-Fi must be within range of Panther. For more information, head to Network Section

Remote Access​

OPTION 1: In a Local Network​

Use a SSH connection at your PC that is connected to the hotspot provided by Panther:

user@mylaptop:~$
ssh husarion@10.15.20.2

The default password for user husarion is also husarion.

OPTION 2: Over The Internet (VPN)​

If LAN access is not enough, you can access your Panther over the Internet from anywhere in the world with Husarnet. First, you should connect Panther to your internal Wi-Fi network, as described in the previous paragraph: Connecting Panther to Your Wi-Fi Network

Once your Panther is connected to your network, you can proceed to configure Husarnet. A full guide on how to do this is here.

Panther ROS Packages​

At this stage, your Panther should be up and running, with a remote connection (either LAN or VPN) established from your laptop. Panther is equipped with preinstalled ROS packages within Docker containers, which are set to launch automatically upon boot. For more information on Panther's ROS system, please refer to Software guide.

ROS nodes running in the containers are accessible at the host operating system level.

Check available ROS topics:

husarion@10.15.20.2:~$
ros2 topic list

The complete architecture of the Panther ROS 2 software is detailed in the Panther ROS 2 Api documentation.

RUNNING ROS NODES NATIVELY

You can run Panther's ROS packages natively on your Panther's host OS, by removing Docker containers, cloning, and building the panther_ros repository. However, it is recommended to use Docker images for this purpose.

Updating Basic Docker Images for Panther​

Panther ROS packages are frequently updated to improve Panther performance or include new features. To update them to the latest version, first, check the latest stable Docker image version at husarion/panther. An example tag could be: noetic-1.0.0-20230324-stable.

Then access your Panther's terminal and edit the main compose file:

husarion@10.15.20.2:~$
nano ~/compose.yaml

Update the Docker tag:

panther_ros:
  image: husarion/panther:<newest-stable-tag> # example tag: noetic-1.0.0-20230324-stable

Restart the Docker containers to apply the changes:

husarion@10.15.20.2:~$
docker compose up -d --force-recreate

Reference Projects​

Now you know how to access Panther's ROS nodes from the Linux terminal.

Running ROS natively is fine for relatively small projects. For more complex ones, the full dockerized setup is a better approach.

warning

Next demos start Panther's Docker containers in different configurations, so remember to stop the basic setup at first:

husarion@10.15.20.2:/home/husarion$
docker compose down

Find available projects below:

linkdescription
panther-navigationAutonomous mapping & navigation demo for Panther. Using navigation2 and slam_toolbox