LART DataStation w ROS2

Formula Student dashboard workspace for Raspberry Pi 5 + dual CAN (Waveshare 2-CH CAN HAT+).

What does what

• lart_bringup: launch + shared config (car.launch.py, sim.launch.py, config/rpi_config.yaml).
• lart_msgs: custom ROS 2 messages (CanFrame, ButtonEvent, EncoderDelta, DashboardState).
• lart_bringup/can_bridge.py: real car CAN reader (can0/can1) and ROS publisher.
• sim/mock_can.py: simulated vehicle values for home testing.
• LART_Car_Dashboard_v1/src/ui: LVGL C++ dashboard interface (production ui_runner application).
• input_handler: GPIO buttons + encoders (sim_mode skips hardware).
• led_controller: WS2812 RPM bar (safe no-op on machines without NeoPixel libs).

Data flow

• CAN CH1/CH2 -> can_bridge (car) or mock_can (home).
• Topics published: /can/frames, /vehicle/rpm, /vehicle/dashboard_state and dynamic /can/dbc/* topics.
• ui_runner (LVGL dashboard) consumes the CAN topics and state topics to render the cockpit UI.
• led_controller consumes RPM and drives LED strip.
• input_handler publishes /input/buttons and /input/encoders.

Build

Compiled output (the ROS2 workspace and the ui_runner dashboard binary) is built by GitHub Actions on every push to master and published to the latest-arm64 release — the Pi pulls it instead of compiling locally:

One-time prerequisite (run once on a fresh/reimaged Pi):

sudo apt install libsdl2-2.0-0

This installs the SDL2 runtime library needed by the ui_runner binary.

Then pull and run the build:

cd ~/GIT/lart_dashboard_ws
git pull
pip install -r requirements.txt --break-system-packages
./scripts/pull_arm64_build.sh
source install/setup.bash

To build locally instead (e.g. while developing on a non-arm64 machine, or if CI is unavailable), use the original workflow:

cd ~/GIT/lart_dashboard_ws
source ~/ros2_jazzy/install/local_setup.bash
pip install -r requirements.txt --break-system-packages
colcon build --symlink-install
source install/setup.bash

Run simulation

source ~/ros2_jazzy/install/local_setup.bash
source ~/GIT/lart_dashboard_ws/install/setup.bash
ros2 launch lart_bringup sim.launch.py

Run on the car (real CAN + GPIO + LEDs)

1. Bring CAN interfaces up:

sudo ip link set can0 up type can bitrate 1000000
sudo ip link set can1 up type can bitrate 1000000

2. Launch:

source ~/ros2_jazzy/install/local_setup.bash
source ~/GIT/lart_dashboard_ws/install/setup.bash
ros2 launch lart_bringup car.launch.py

Configure for your car

// TODO (dbc2msg.py)