How to Install CoppeliaSim 4.1.0 in Ubuntu 16.04 with ROS Bridge and the Velodyne plugin

Install Tutorial Coppeliasim - Espeleo Simulation

1 - Download CoppeliaSim V4.1.0 for Ubuntu 16.04 (https://coppeliarobotics.com/files/CoppeliaSim_Edu_V4_1_0_Ubuntu16_04.tar.xz). Unzip into a suitable folder.

  $ wget -P /tmp https://coppeliarobotics.com/files/CoppeliaSim_Edu_V4_1_0_Ubuntu16_04.tar.xz
  $ cd /tmp && tar -xvf CoppeliaSim_Edu_V4_1_0_Ubuntu16_04.tar.xz
  $ mv CoppeliaSim_Edu_V4_1_0_Ubuntu16_04 ~/

2 - Prepare ".bashrc" for CoppeliaSim:

  $ echo 'export COPPELIASIM_ROOT_DIR="$HOME/CoppeliaSim_Edu_V4_1_0_Ubuntu16_04"' >> ~/.bashrc && source ~/.bashrc
  $ echo 'alias coppelia="$COPPELIASIM_ROOT_DIR/coppeliaSim.sh"' >> ~/.bashrc && source ~/.bashrc

3 - Test if the program is working on terminal by:
```
  $ coppelia
```
If everything went well, you must be greeted by the CoppeliaSim simulator main window!
4 - Go to your catkin workspace source folder ("~/catkin_ws/src/") and clone recursively the plugin repository. Note: the simExtROSInterface that works with Ubuntu 16.04 is the coppeliasim-v4.0.0 branch. Until now, we have seen no problems.
```
  $ cd ~/catkin_ws/src/
  $ git clone https://github.com/CoppeliaRobotics/simExtROSInterface --branch coppeliasim-v4.0.0
```

5 - Fix a python requirement that is broken in CoppeliaSim 4.1.0:

  $ cd $COPPELIASIM_ROOT_DIR/programming
  $ rm -rf libPlugin
  $ git clone https://github.com/CoppeliaRobotics/libPlugin.git
  $ cd libPlugin
  $ git checkout 1e5167079b84ca002a6197414d51c40eda583d01

6 - Install the support packages:

  $ sudo apt-get install -y python-catkin-tools xsltproc ros-$ROS_DISTRO-brics-actuator ros-$ROS_DISTRO-tf2-sensor-msgs

7 - Use "catkin build" to compile your packages. To do so, you must "catkin clean", then "catkin build"
```
  $ cd ~/catkin_ws
  $ catkin clean -y && catkin build
```
8 - If your compilation finished succesfully, the library "libv_repExtRosInterface.so" compiled correctly. This library makes CoppeliaSim recognize the ROS enviroment in your machine. Now, copy this library to the CoppeliaSim directory:
```
  $ cp ~/catkin_ws/devel/lib/libsimExtROSInterface.so $COPPELIASIM_ROOT_DIR
```
9 - It's necessary to install the package Coppeliasim Plugin Velodyne which is responsible for publishing the velodyne point cloud from a C++ plugin, increasing the simulation performance.
```
  $ cd ~/catkin_ws/src/ && git clone https://github.com/ITVRoC/coppeliasim_plugin_velodyne.git
  $ cd ~/catkin_ws && catkin build
  $ cp ~/catkin_ws/devel/.private/coppeliasim_plugin_velodyne/lib/libv_repExtRosVelodyne.so $COPPELIASIM_ROOT_DIR
```
The scenes in this repository already have the other configurations. If you want to create a new scene with the plugin follow the steps of the link - https://github.com/ITVRoC/coppeliasim_plugin_velodyne.
10 - Everything is ready to run. To test the communication, run the ROS master:
```
  $ roscore
```
11 - Now run CoppeliaSim:
```
  $ coppelia
```

Note that there are multiple init messages from CoppeliaSim on terminal. An indication that your library was compiled correctly is the following message:

		Plugin 'RosInterface': loading...
		Plugin 'RosInterface': warning: replaced variable 'simROS'
		Plugin 'RosInterface': load succeeded.

12 - To confirm the interaction between ROS and CoppeliaSim, play the empty scene in the begin of the program. In other terminal type:
```
  $ rostopic list
```
If the topic "/tf" appears, the ROS/CoppeliaSim is enabled and functional.

h3ct0r/COPPELIA_4.1.0_UBUNTU_16.04.md

How to Install CoppeliaSim 4.1.0 in Ubuntu 16.04 with ROS Bridge and the Velodyne plugin