Commandline Commands#
Commandline Variables#
echo $<variable_name> # To display value
ROS_DISTRO # Distro name e.g. melodic
ROS_ETC_DIR #
ROS_LISP_PACKAGE_DIRECTORIES # common-lisp folder e.g. ~/catkin_ws/devel/share/common-lisp
ROS_HOSTNAME # ros hostname e.g. localhost
ROS_MASTER_URI # ros master url e.g. http://localhost:11311
ROS_PACKAGE_PATH # package path's e.g. ~/catkin_ws/src:/opt/ros/$(ROS_DISTRO)/share
ROS_PYTHON_VERSION # python version 2 or 3 e.g. 2
ROS_ROOT # ros installation e.g. /opt/ros/$(ROS_DISTRO)/share/ros
ROS_VERSION # ros version 1 or 2 e.g. 1
Useful commands#
ROS tools#
roscore#
Launch ROS master core
roscore
rosversion#
rosversion -d # Print ROS distro name
rosversion <package_name> # Print package vrosnode
rosparam#
Nodes use the parameter server to store and retrieve parameters at runtime.
rosparam list # list parameter names
rosparam set /<parameter_name> <value> # set parameter
rosparam get /<parameter_name> # get parameter
rosparam delete /<parameter_name> # delete parameter
rosparam dump <file> # dump parameter to file
rosparam load # load parameter from file
rosnode#
Work with nodes
rosnode list # list all nodes
rosnode ping /<node_name> # check node connectivity
rosnode info /<node_node> # print information about node
rosnode machine # list nodes running on a particular machine
rosnode kill /<node_name> # kill a running node
rostopic#
Work with topics
rostopic list # list all topics
rostopic info /<topic_name> # print information about active topic
rostopic echo /<topic_name> # print messages to screen
rostopic pub /<topic_name> msg/MessageType "data:value" # pubish data to topic
rostopic type /<topic_name> # print topic or field type
rostopic find <type> # find topics by type
rostopic bw /<topic_name> # display bandwidth used by topic
rostopic hz /<topic_name> # display publishing rate of topic
roslaunch#
To start a launch file which can contain multiple nodes.
roslaunch <ros_pkg_name> <launch_file_name> # Launch ros launch file
rosrun#
To run a node
rosrun <ros_pkg_name> <node_name> # Start a ros node
rosrun <PACKAGE_NAME><NODE_NAME> __name:=<INSTANCE_NAME> # Start another instance of a node, the parameter *INSTANCE_NAME* can be whatever you want, but it must be unique.
rosservice#
Work with services
rosservice list # list active services
rosservice info <service_name> # print information about service
rosservice uri <service_name> # print service ROSRPC
rosbag#
ROS offers the possibility to record the data published on topics into bag files :
create a directory to store the bag files:
~/ mkdir ros_bag_files && cd ros_bag_files
run the record command :
rosbag record -O <bag_name>.bag <topic_name> <topic_name>
play the bag file :
rosbag play <bag_name>.bag
Compress a bag file :
# Option 1 : use BZ2 compression -> slow but bigger compression rate rosbag compress <bag_name>.bag # Option 2 : use LZ4 compression -> much faster, but smaller compression rate rosbag compress --lz4 <bag_name>.bag
Decompress a compressed bag file :
rosbag decompress <bag_name>.bag
Repair a broken bag file (happens when there is a .bag.active file instead of a .bag file):
rosbag reindex <bag_name>.bag.active rosbag fix <bag_name>.bag.active <fixed_bag_name>.bag
Shorten a bag file :
rosbag filter <input>.bag <output>.bag "t.secs >= <timestamp>"
Many options are available for the rosbag command, see this page for more details.
Note
To play a bag with several pointclouds at different position, it is better to have the following topics recorded:
/cloud/tf_static
The /tf_static is helpful to visualize in RViz
rosbag record -O cloud.bag /cloud /tf_static
rosmsg#
Display information about ros messages.
rosmsg list # List all messages
rosmsg info <message_name> # Show message description
rosmsg package <package_name> # List messages in a package
rosmsg packages <package_name> # List packages that contain messages
Other Commands#
roscd <PKG_NAME> # move to the folder of the package
rosinstall <PKG_NAME> # install a ROS package
rosdep <PKG_NAME # install all the dependencies of a package
rqt # tool with many plug-ins available such as topic publisher, service caller, …
rqt_graph # display the connections between nodes
rviz # launch the graphical tool to visualize robots, point clouds, …
view_frames # create a PDFcalled ``frames.pdf`` with the TF frames that are active
evince frames.pdf # show with evince the generated frames.pdf
Catkin#
More info:
Create Package#
new terminal
navigate to the source folder of the catkin workspace :
.../catkin_ws/srcrun :
catkin_create_pkg <PACKAGE_NAME> <DEPENDENCIES>update both CMakeLists.txt and package.xml note : run_depend has to be replaced by the exec_depend
write source code in the source folder of the package :
build the catkin workspace with the alias command :
cmlaunch the master as explained [here](ros-commands.md#roscore).
now launch the node as explained [here](#roslaunch) and [here](rosrun).
catkin_create_pkg <PKG_NAME> <PKG_DEPENDENCIES> # create a package, must be called inside a catkin workspace
Build#
cm
catkin_make # build the whole workspace
catkin_make <PKG_NAME> # build a single package
Install#
catkin_make install # installs all executables
catkin_make install <PKG_NAME> # installs single executables
Python modules#
Tips :
put the script in a folder called scripts
make sure to run
chmod +x <script_name>.pyso that the script is recognized as an executable by ROS
Update services with RQT#
launch RQT from a new terminal : run
rqtSearch for the plugin Service Caller
Choose the service that you want to update
Fill the expression field with an expected parameter of this service
Call the service and the response is displayed