The Leo Rover’s operating system has been finally released for version 1.0.0. This means there are changes awaiting you. So, without further ado, let’s see what you can expect now.

New desktop environment

As you know, there’s a desktop in the Leo Rover mobile robot to which you can easily connect. The desktop environment is installed in your Leo Rover, provided that you’re using the full version of the operating system. Thanks to it, you can remotely control a desktop session on the robot from your computer. 

The latest changes in LeoOS have improved the ways to connect to a Leo Rover via remote desktop. New graphical interface (LXQt Desktop Environment) and remote desktop servers: xrdp, TigerVNC are available by default. The Desktop Environment has been preconfigured to use the Breeze theme and Openbox as the window manager.

Ubuntu upgrade

Now, the operating system uses Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa and ROS Noetic package repositories. The ROS packages in the Melodic versions for a Leo Rover aren’t updated anymore and the development has been carried over to the Noetic distribution. Check out the main differences in ROS API here.

Bridge Ethernet and Wifi interfaces

The external WiFi interface, as well as the Ethernet one are now part of a single bridge interface. Thanks to this, now, the DHCP server assigns IP addresses to computers connected either via Ethernet or wirelessly. This solution makes it easier to add extra onboard computers to a Leo Rover.

64-bit ARM architecture

Packages that the OS is now based on, utilize the 64-bit ARM instruction set. This should add to better performance for Raspberry Pi 4, as well as enable a single process to use over 3GB of RAM.

Enjoy new LeoOS

These are the biggest changes you can expect in new LeoOS. There are also a few minor ones. Download LeoOS 1.0.0 from here and upload it to your rover :).

Also, check out our guide on software update.