Using this template is recommended — you may also edit it freely, but you must fully describe your product and the problem (at least: product name, version, and problem description).
Product and Purchase
Hiwonder mentor pi a1 advanced kit
Software and Environment
Virtual machine
Issue Description
Regarding the virtual machine provided in the shared Drive. I noticed that some .OVF files are not working properly.
The Drive contains multiple folders, including a “preconfigured virtual machine” with two subfolders (Hiwonder for Mapping and Navigation and Hiwonder ROS2 Accessory), as well as another folder named “Official Virtual Machine.”
Could you please clarify which virtual machine I am supposed to use?
Additionally, I would like to know whether it is possible to communicate with the robot through this virtual machine.
For the MentorPi A1 Advanced Kit mapping and navigation workflow, use the preconfigured VM labeled Hiwonder for Mapping and Navigation. The tutorial identifies this image as HiWonder_ros2_humble (for mapping and navigation); the other VM folders are not the specified image for this workflow.
Yes, the VM is intended to communicate with the robot through ROS 2. The official setup requires you to:
Connect the robot and the VM to the same LAN.
Confirm that their IP addresses are on the same subnet.
Confirm that ROS_DOMAIN_ID is 0 on both systems.
Follow the mapping tutorial’s preparation steps to transfer the robot’s navigation, slam, and simulations packages plus .typerc to the VM, build ros2_ws, and source the workspace.
The robot then runs the mapping or navigation nodes while the VM runs RViz.
For the .OVF import problem, please provide the exact .OVF filename, your host operating system, VMware version, and the complete import error or a screenshot. That information is needed to diagnose the failed image safely.
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Using this template is recommended — you may also edit it freely, but you must fully describe your product and the problem (at least: product name, version, and problem description).