C++ Fundamentals for Robotics

In this post, we will learn the fundamentals of C++, one of the most popular languages (along with Python) for programming robots. Getting your head around these fundamentals will help you immensely when you learn ROS. The only prerequisite knowledge is that you have some basic programming experience in any language.

We will not cover the entire C++ language since it is enormous. We will go over the most important commands that you will use again and again over your robotics career. I will also provide links to some short C++ tutorials that do a great job explaining some specific aspects of the language.

Let’s get started!

How to Install the GCC/G++ Compilers
How to Install the C/C++ Debugger
Write Your First Program in C++
How to Compile and Run Your Program
How to Debug Code Written in C++
Classes and Objects in C++
How to Create a C++ Project
How to Create a Linux Makefile
How to Create a CMake File
Learn C++ Fundamentals
Conclusion

You Will Need

In order to complete this tutorial, you will need:

Ubuntu installed and running properly
Basic programming experience (you’ve written code before at a beginner level in any programming language). If you’ve never written code before, check out this Python tutorial.

Directions

How to Install the GCC/G++ Compilers

C++ is a compiled language. What that means is that when you want to run a program that you write in C++, your machine needs to have a special program that translates the C++ that you write into language that the computer understands and can execute.

The built-in compiler for C/C++ (i.e. C language and C++ language) is called GCC/G++. Let’s see if the compiler is installed on your machine.

Within Ubuntu Linux, open up a new terminal window.

Type the following command to see if you have the C compiler (named GCC):

gcc

GCC is not installed. Before installing it, let’s update the package list using this command:

sudo apt-get update

Now use this command to install a bunch of packages, including GCC, G++, and GNU Make:

sudo apt install build-essential

You might see some sort of error about things being locked if you try the following command. If you do, kill all processes that are using the APT package management tool using this command:

sudo killall apt apt-get

Remove the lock files:

sudo rm /var/lib/apt/lists/lock

sudo rm /var/cache/apt/archives/lock

sudo rm /var/lib/dpkg/lock*

Reconfigure the packages and update:

sudo dpkg --configure -a

sudo apt update

Now use this command to install numerous packages, including GCC, G++, and GNU Make:

sudo apt install build-essential

Press Y to continue.

Wait while the whole thing downloads.

Now, install the manual pages about using GNU/Linux for development (note: it might already be installed):

sudo apt-get install manpages-dev

Check to see if both GCC and G++ are installed.

whereis gcc

whereis g++

Check what version you have.

gcc --version

g++ --version

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How to Install the C/C++ Debugger

In this section, we will install the C/C++ debugger. It is called GNU Debugger (GDB) and enables us to detect problems or bugs in the code that we write.

In the terminal window, type the following command:

sudo apt-get install gdb

You will be asked to type your password, and then click Enter.

Type the following command to verify that it is installed:

gdb

Type this command to quit.

Exit the terminal.

exit

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Write Your First Program in C++

On the Ubuntu Linux desktop, click the 9 dots in the bottom left of the screen and search for the text editor named gedit. Double-click on it.

Write the following code and save it as hello_world.cpp.

This page on GeeksforGeeks explains what each line of code does.

You can close the text editor now by clicking on the x on the upper right corner of the screen.

Click the file cabinet on the left side of the screen. You should see your hello_world.cpp file. Drag and drop it on your Desktop.

How to Compile and Run Your Program

We now need to compile the hello_world.cpp program so that your computer will be able to read it.

Since the file is located on the desktop, open a terminal window, and type the following command:

cd Desktop

Type the following command to see if it is there:

dir

Compile hello_world.cpp by typing the following command:

g++ hello_world.cpp

If you see an error, check your program to see if it is exactly like I wrote it.

If you don’t see an error, type the dir command to see if the a.out file is there, then run the program by typing the following command:

./a.out

Congratulations! You have created and run your first C++ program.

In this example, the name of the executable file was a.out. If we wanted to use another name, we could do that too.

g++ hello_world.cpp -o hello

Type dir to see the new file.

Type the following command to run it.

./hello

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How to Debug Code Written in C++

In this section we’ll learn how to debug code written in C++. Debug means to remove errors from a program.

Let’s create a file called product.cpp. We will multiply two numbers together and display the product.

Search for the gedit text editor in Ubuntu Linux. Open the application.

Write the program.

Compile the program using the following command. We have to add that -g option so that the code is built with debugging functionality.

g++ -g product.cpp -o product

Execute the code using the following command:

./product

Now, debug the code using the following command:

gdb product

Create a breakpoint at line 5. A breakpoint tells the debugger to run the code but stop at line 5.

b 5

Now, run the program and stop at the breakpoint.

Execute the next line of code.

Print the value of the first_number variable.

p first_number

Run the rest of the program.

Type:

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Classes and Objects in C++

The main difference between C and C++ is that C++ enables the programmer to define what are known as classes. A class has its own data and functions (i.e. behavior, methods, etc..). A class often represents something that we might find in the real world.

For example, consider the Car class. There are many different types of cars one can buy, but all cars have certain things in common. The data for the car class might include the following:

Number of wheels
Make
Model
Year
Current speed

Functions for the car class might include the following:

Speed up
Slow down

Classes are blueprints (i.e. templates) for what are called objects. Each time we want to create a new car in a program, for example, instead of defining that car’s data and methods from scratch, we can use the Car class as a template to define the new car’s data (number of wheels, make, model, year, etc.), and we can use the car’s functions to change its data (e.g. speed up and slow down will change the current speed).

Geeks for Geeks has a good, brief tutorial on creating classes and objects in C++. I recommend you go through it now.

After going to that tutorial above, I recommend you go through the “Basics of C++” tutorial at Geeks (just the Basics section, not the rest of the stuff on there) for Geeks to make sure you have practice with the tasks in C++ that you will do again and again. Go slowly so you understand what you are doing and why you are doing it. No need to hurry.

Now quickly skim the following tutorials. Just read the first couple of paragraphs on each page. No need to do a deep dive into any of these tutorials. I just want you to have a high-level understanding of what you can do in C++. You can come back to these tutorials when you need them during an actual project:

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How to Create a C++ Project

In many large C++ projects, you will have to compile multiple programs, each containing hundreds or even thousands of lines of code. In addition to being compiled, the programs might need to be linked together. In this section, I will show you how to do this using a tool known as a Linux makefile.

Let’s develop a program again that multiplies two numbers together. This time, we will create a class called Product. The product class has only one method (or function) called calculate. The calculate method takes as input two numbers, and it outputs the product of those two numbers.

Best practice when creating classes in C++ is to split the class into two files: one file to declare the Product class (i.e. tell the compiler that a class exists called product) and one file to implement the Product class (i.e. to implement the Product class’s data and methods). We then need a third file that creates an object of the Product class and performs the multiplication. This last file is called main.cpp:

Product.h: This is a header file for the Product class. We declare the Product class here (both data and methods) rather than in the Product.cpp file.
- Header files help make your projects more organized and speed up compile time.
Product.cpp: We already declared the data and methods of the product class in the Product.h file, but we now need to implement them. Product.cpp is the program where we implement the data and methods of the Product class.
main.cpp: This is the main code of the project that is going to get built into an executable file that your machine understands. Here is where we create an object of the Product class and perform the multiplication.

In case you are confused at the difference between declaring something and implementing something, take a look at the example below of my Product.h file:

Above we have only declared the Product class. We have not yet implemented it. Let’s do that now in the Product.cpp file:

Now that we have implemented the Product class, we need to create one more file, the main.cpp file. This file is where we perform the actual multiplication of two numbers. Make sure your code looks exactly like what I have below.

Now that we have our class declaration, class implementation, and main program, we are ready to compile the code and execute it. We can do all that in two lines in the Linux terminal. Move to the directory where your files are located. Mine are located on my desktop, so I open up a Linux terminal window and type:

cd Desktop

Type the dir command to get a list of the files in your desktop.

And then compile the code using the following command:

g++ Product.cpp main.cpp -o main

Type dir

Notice that you have an executable file called main. This is the main program that includes all that code you developed above in a nice neat package that is ready to be executed. Let’s execute it now by typing:

./main

If you got “Output = 33”, congratulations! If you did not get that answer or go an error, go back to the code and make sure it is written exactly as I have written above.

Now remove that executable file:

rm main

rm above means “remove.”

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How to Create a Linux Makefile

In the example above, each time we make changes to any of the three source files, we have to create a new executable file by typing the “g++ Product.cpp main.cpp -o main” command. Now imagine if we had a project that had 100 source files. Having to type out the command to compile 100 source files each time we made a tiny change to just one of the source files would get annoying really fast!

Fortunately, Linux has some solutions for this. One of the solutions is called a Linux Makefile. A makefile is a text file (or small program) that contains the commands that you would ordinarily need to type out manually to link, compile, and build the executable for all your source code. A makefile is run in Linux using the make command. When you run the make command on a makefile, all your source code files are linked, compiled, and built into an executable file (like we did in the previous section).

Let’s suppose that you have 100 source files, and you have made a tiny change to one of those source files. One really cool thing about running the make command is that it knows which files have changed since the last time you built the executable. make will only rebuild files that changed since the previous version. So rather than rebuilding all 100 files each time you need to link, compile, and build your project, make will ensure that only one file is rebuilt, and everything else remains unchanged. You can imagine how much time make will save you.

The official manual for creating Makefiles is here at GNU.org in case you ever need a detailed reference to refer to. I’ll show you below how to create and use a makefile for the source code we developed in the last section.

Open up a new terminal window. Move to your desktop, and create a new directory called product_project using the mkdir (i.e. make directory) command.

Move to that directory using the cd product_project command.

Type gedit to open up the text editor.

Create the following makefile exactly as I have written below. Save it as makefile. The syntax is complicated, but don’t worry about trying to memorize this. Just refer back to this tutorial when you need to create a makefile in the future. You can also consult the makefile manual.

After you have saved the makefile, open a new terminal window, move to the Desktop, and move your three programs (Product.cpp, Product.h and main.cpp) to this product_project directory using the mv (i.e. move) command. We need to move all cpp and h files.

mv ~/Desktop/*.cpp ~/Desktop/product_project/

mv ~/Desktop/*.h ~/Desktop/product_project/

Now we need to execute the makefile.

make

You will now have three new files in your directory: executable file named main and two object files named main.o and Product.o.

Now that the program is built, we can run it.

./main

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How to Create a CMake File

An alternative to using a Linux makefile to build your C++ project is to use a software tool known as CMake. CMake is one of the most popular tools for building C++ projects because it is relatively user-friendly (compared to the Linux makefile process I described in the previous section). Here is a link to the CMake documentation.

Let’s see how to build a C++ project using CMake.

First, go to the desktop and create a product_project_2 folder. Move (or copy and paste) your three source code files (Product.h, Product.cpp, and main.cpp) to that new folder.

Install CMake.

sudo apt-get install cmake

Make sure you are in the product_project_2 folder. Then create the following text file and save it as CMakeLists.txt. This file builds the executable file called main from main.cpp and Product.cpp.

Close the text editor to return to the terminal window.

Create a new folder.

mkdir build

Move to the build folder.

Type the following command:

cmake ..

Now you need to build the project. Type:

make

Run the code:

./main

If everything worked properly, you should see Output = 33.

Learn C++ Fundamentals

At this stage, I recommend you go through short tutorials that cover the basics of C++. Here are the concepts you should work through:

Conclusion

Congratulations! We have covered a lot of ground. You have come a long way from the beginning of this tutorial and now have a solid foundation in C++, one of the most popular languages for building robots.

Keep building!

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How to Set Up Anaconda for Windows 10

In this post, I will show you how to set up Anaconda. Anaconda is a free, open-source distribution of Python (and R). The goal of Anaconda is to be a free “one-stop-shop” for all your Python data science and machine learning needs. It contains the key packages you need to build cool machine learning projects.

Requirements

Here are the requirements:

Set up Anaconda.
Set up Jupyter Notebook.
Install important libraries.
Learn basic Anaconda commands.

Directions

Install Anaconda

Go to the Anaconda website and click “Download.”

Choose the latest version of Python. In my case, that is Python 3.7. Click “Download” to download the Anaconda installer for your operating system type (i.e. Windows, macOS, or Linux).

Follow the instructions to install the program:

Installing on Windows (this is what I’m using)
Installing on macOS
Installing on Linux

Verify Anaconda is installed by searching for “Anaconda Navigator” on your computer.

Open Anaconda Navigator.

Follow the instructions here for creating a “Hello World” program. You can use Spyder, Jupyter Notebooks, or the Anaconda Prompt (terminal). If you use Jupyter Notebooks, you will need to open the notebooks in Firefox, Google Chrome or another web browser.

Check to make sure that you have IPython installed. Use the following command (in an Anaconda Prompt window) to check:

where ipython

Make sure that you have pip installed. Pip is the package management system for Python.

where pip

Make sure that you have conda installed. Conda is Anaconda’s package management system.

where conda

Install Some Libraries

Install OpenCV

To install OpenCV, use the following command in the Anaconda Prompt:

pip install opencv-contrib-python

Type the following command to get a list of packages and make sure opencv-contrib-python is installed.

conda list

Install dlib

Install cmake.

pip install cmake

Install the C++ library called dlib.

pip install dlib

Type the following command and take a look at the list to see if dlib is successfully installed:

conda list

Install Tesseract

Go to Tesseract at UB Mannheim.

Download the Tesseract for your system.

Set it up by following the prompts.

Once Tesseract OCR is downloaded, find it on your system.

Copy the name of the file it is located in. In my case, that is:

C:\Program Files\Tesseract-OCR

Search for “Environment Variables” on your computer.

Under “System Variables,” click “Path,” and then click Edit.

Add the path: C:\Program Files\Tesseract-OCR

Click OK a few times to close all windows.

Open up the Anaconda Prompt.

Type this command to see if tesseract is installed on your system.

where tesseract

Now, apply the Python binding to the packages using the following commands:

pip install tesseract

pip install pytesseract

Install TensorFlow

Type the following command in the Anaconda Prompt:

pip install tensorflow

Install TensorFlow hub using this command:

pip install tensorflow-hub

Now install tflearn.

pip install tflearn

Now, install the Keras neural network library.

pip install keras

Install the Rest of the Libraries

Type the following commands to install the rest of the libraries:

pip install pillow

pip install SimpleITK

Learn Basic Anaconda Commands

Changing Directories

If you ever want to change directories to the D drive instead of the C drive, open Anaconda Prompt on your computer and type the following commands, in order

D:

cd D:\XXXX\XXXX\XXXX\XXXX

where D:\XXXX\XXXX\XXXX\XXXX is the file path.

Listing Directory Contents

Type the dir command to list the contents of a directory.

dir

Creating a Jupyter Notebook

Open Anaconda Prompt on your computer and type the following command:

jupyter notebook

Converting a Jupyter Notebook into Python Files

If you want to convert a Jupyter Notebook into Python files, change to that directory and type the following command:

jupyter nbconvert --to script *.ipynb

Congratulations if you made it this far! You have all the libraries installed that you need to do fundamental image processing and computer vision work in Python.

Difference Between Recursion and Iteration

If you are learning algorithms or data structures, you might have come across the terms recursion and iteration. Knowing the difference between the two can be confusing, so I will explain both terms using a real-world example.

Eating My Morning Bowl of Oatmeal

Everyday before I go to work, I take a shower, get dressed, and then head over to the kitchen to fix myself a big bowl of oatmeal. Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day and the most important. Many days I feel like skipping breakfast so that I can go on with my day. However, on those rare occasions when I decide to skip breakfast, I have usually regretted it. I spend the morning hungry and cannot fully concentrate on the tasks at hand.

The problem of eating my morning bowl of oatmeal can be implemented both iteratively and recursively. Iteration is the act of repeating a process. So, in the case of oatmeal, an iterative way to solve the problem of eating my bowl of oatmeal would be to do the following:

Take one bite of the oatmeal
Repeat Step 1 until the bowl is empty.

Recursion, on the other hand, is when a method calls itself. It involves breaking a problem into smaller versions of the same problem until you reach a trivial stopping case.

Let’s consider the problem of eating a bowl of oatmeal. I can solve the problem of eating the entire bowl of oatmeal recursively by breaking it into two subproblems as follows:

Take one bite of oatmeal
Eat the rest of the bowl of oatmeal

Each step of this recursive procedure gets smaller and smaller until all I am left with is one more spoonful of oatmeal. Once I finish that last spoonful, I am done, and I can go on about my day.

Here is how I would implement the iterative and recursive procedures for eating a bowl of oatmeal in Java pseudocode:

Iterative Implementation

public static main void main(String[] args) {

    while (!bowl.empty()) {
        bowl.takeOneBite(); 
        // Keep taking bites over and over 
        // again until the bowl of oatmeal 
        // is empty
    }
}

Recursive Implementation

public static void eatOatmeal(Bowl bowl) {

    if (bowl.empty()) {  
    // This is our stopping case. 
    // We stop taking bites once 
    // the bowl is empty

        return;  
    }
    else {
        bowl.takeOneBite(); 
        eatOatmeal(bowl); // Recursive call
    }
}