ROS Command-line tools

Jun 23

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ROS Cheat Sheet

• ROS Cheat Sheet
  • Filesystem Command-line Tools
  • ROS commands summary
  • Logging Command-line Tools
  • Graphical Tools
• Workspaces
  • Create workspace
  • Add repo to workspace
  • Resolve dependencies in workspace
• Packages
  • Create a package
  • Package folders
  • Release repo packages
• Running System
  • Run ROS using plain
  • Running roslaunch will run its own roscore automatically
  • Nodes, topics, messages
  • Remote connection - master’s ROS environment
  • Remote connection - your environment
  • ROS Console
• Developer Commands
• Setting up your environment
  • ROS_MASTER_URI
  • ROS_HOSTNAME
• Bags
  • Examples Commands
• Tips

Filesystem Command-line Tools

Command	Action	Example usage and subcommand examples
rospack/rosstack	A tool inspecting packages/stacks.	$ rospack find [package]
roscd	Changes directories to a package or stack.	$ roscd [package[/subdir]]
rosls	Lists package or stack information.	$ rosls [package[/subdir]]
roscreate-pkg	Creates a new ROS package.	$ roscreate-pkg [package name]
roscreate-stack	Creates a new ROS stack.	$ ros command [parameter]
rosdep	Installs ROS package system dependencies.	rosdep install [package]
rosmake	Builds a ROS package.	$ rosmake [package]
roswtf	Displays a errors and warnings about a running ROS system or launch file.	$ roswtf or roswtf [file]
rxdeps	Displays package structure and dependencies.	$ rxdeps [options]
rosed	It allows you to directly edit a file within a package by package name rather than having to know the package path.	Usage: $ rosed packagename filename Example: $ rosed roscpp ros.h

ROS commands summary

Command	Action	Example usage and subcommand examples
roscore	This starts the Master	$ roscore
rosrun	This runs an executable program and creates nodes	$ rosrun [package name] [executable name] $ rosrun package executable
rosnode	This shows information about nodes and lists the active nodes	$ rosnode info [node name] $ rosnode <subcommand> $ rosnode list List active nodes. $ rosnode ping [node name] Test connectivity to node. $ rosnode ping --all Ping all nodes. $ rosnode info [node name] Print information about a node. $ rosnode machine List nodes running on a particular ma- chine. $ rosnode kill [node name] Kills a running node. $ rosnode kill -a Kill all nodes:
rostopic	This shows information about ROS topics	$ rostopic <subcommand> <topic name> Subcommands: echo, info, and type $ rostopic echo Print messages to screen. $ rostopic list Print information about active topics. $ rostopic pub Publish data to topic. $ rostopic type Print topic type. $ rostopic find Find topics by type. $ rostopic hz Display publishing rate of topic. $ rostopic bw Display bandwidth used by topic. Example: Publish hello at 10 Hz: $ rostopic pub -r 10 /topic name std msgs/String hello Clear the screen after each message is published: $ rostopic echo -c /topic name Display messages that match a given Python expression: $ rostopic echo --filter "m.data=='foo'" /topic name Pipe the output of rostopic to rosmsg to view the msg type: $ rostopic type /topic name | rosmsg show
rosmsg	This shows information about the message types	$ rosmsg <subcommand> [package name]/ [message type] Subcommands: show, type, and list $ rosmsg show Display the fields in the msg. $ rosmsg package List all the messages in a package. $ rosnode packages List all the packages with messages. $ rosmsg users sensor msgs/CameraInfo List the files using sensor msgs/CameraInfo.
roslaunch	Starts ROS nodes locally and remotely via SSH, as well as setting parameters on the parameter server.	Launch on a different port: $ roslaunch -p 1234 package filename.launch Launch a file in a package: $ roslaunch package filename.launch Launch on the local nodes: $ roslaunch --local package filename.launch
rosservice	This displays the runtime information about various services and allows the display of messages being sent to a topic	$ rosservice <subcommand> [service name] Subcommands: args, call, find, info, list, and type
rosparam	This is used to get and set parameters (data) used by nodes. A tool for getting and setting ROS parameters on the parameter server using YAML-encoded files.	$ rosparam <subcommand> [parameter] Subcommands: get, set, list, and delete $ rosparam set Set a parameter. $ rosparam get Get a parameter. $ rosparam load Load parameters from a file. $ rosparam dump Dump parameters to a file. $ rosparam delete Delete a parameter. $ rosparam list List parameter names. Example: List all the parameters in a namespace: $ rosparam list /namespace Setting a list with one as a string, integer, and oat: $ rosparam set /foo "['1', 1, 1.0]" Dump only the parameters in a specific namespace to file: $ rosparam dump dump.yaml /namespace
rosservice	A tool for listing and querying ROS services.	$ rosservice list Print information about active services. $ rosservice node Print the name of the node providing a service. $ rosservice call Call the service with the given args. $ rosservice args List the arguments of a service. $ rosservice type Print the service type. $ rosservice uri Print the service ROSRPC uri. $ rosservice find Find services by service type. Examples: Call a service from the command-line: $ rosservice call /add two ints 1 2 Pipe the output of rosservice to rossrv to view the srv type: $ rosservice type add two ints | rossrv show Display all services of a particular type: $ rosservice find rospy tutorials/AddTwoInts

Logging Command-line Tools

Command	Action	Example usage and subcommand examples
rosbag	This is a set of tools for recording from and playing back to ROS topics.	Record all topics: $ rosbag record -a Record select topics: $ rosbag record topic1 topic2
rosbag play	will take the contents of one or more bagfile, and play them back in a time-synchronized fashion.	Replay all messages without waiting: $ rosbag play -a demo log.bag Replay several bag files at once: $ rosbag play demo1.bag demo2.bag

Graphical Tools

Command	Action	Example usage and subcommand examples
rxgraph	Displays a graph of the ROS nodes that are currently running,as well as the ROS topics that connect them.	$ rxgraph
rxplot	A tool for plotting data from one or more ROS topic fields using matplotlib.	To graph the data in different plots: $ rxplot /topic1/field1 /topic2/field2 To graph the data all on the same plot: $ rxplot /topic1/field1,/topic2/field2 To graph multiple fields of a message: $ rxplot /topic1/field1:field2:field3
rxbag	A tool for visualizing, inspecting, and replaying histories (bag files) of ROS messages.	$ rxbag bag file.bag
rxconsole	A tool for displaying and filtering messages published on rosout.	$ rxconsole

Workspaces

Create workspace

mkdir catkin_ws
cd catkin_ws
wstool init src
catkin_make
source devel/setup.bash

Source space (/src): contains the source code of catkin packages. Subfolder of this are the ROS packages you want to add to your system. All your stuff goes here!

Build space (/build): space where cmake is invoked to build the catkin packages cmake and catkin keep their cache information and other intermediate files here. Not where catkin_make is invoked!

Devel space (/devel): Space where built targets are placed prior to being installed

Add repo to workspace

roscd
cd ../src
wstool set repo_name --git http://github.com/org/repo_name.git --version=indigo-devel
wstool up

Resolve dependencies in workspace

sudo rosdep init # only once
rosdep update
rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src --rosdistro=indigo -y

Packages

Create a package

catkin_create_pkg package_name [dependencies ...]

Package folders

include/package_name   # C++ header files
src                    # Source files, Python libraries in subdirectories
scripts                # Python nodes and scripts
msg, srv, action       # Message, Service, and Action definitions

Release repo packages

catkin_generate_changelog
# review & commit changelogs"
catkin_prepare_release
bloom-release --track indigo --ros-distro indigo repo_name

Running System

Run ROS using plain

roscore

Running roslaunch will run its own roscore automatically

roslaunch my_package package_launchfile.launch

Nodes, topics, messages

rosnode list
rostopic list
rostopic echo cmd_vel
rostopic hz cmd_vel
rostopic info cmd_vel
rosmsg show geometry_msgs/Twist

Remote connection - master’s ROS environment

export ROS_IP or ROS_HOSTNAME  #set to this machine’s network address
export ROS_MASTER_URI          #set to URI containing that IP or hostname

Remote connection - your environment

export ROS_IP or ROS_HOSTNAME   #set to your machine’s network address
export ROS_MASTER_URI           #set to the URI from the master

To debug, check ping from each side to the other, run roswtf on each side

ROS Console

vi $HOME/.ros/config/rosconsole.config log4j.logger.ros.package_name=DEBUG

Adjust using rqt_logger_level and monitor via rqt_console. Use the roslaunch --screen flag to force all node output to the screen, as if each declared had the output="screen" attribute.

Developer Commands

Name	Purpose
catkin_make	Build all projects in workspace. Run from root folder. Example: ~/catkin_ws/.
catkin_make clean	Clean all projects in workspace. Run from root folder. Example: ~/catkin_ws/.

Setting up your environment

ROS_MASTER_URI

Set the address of the robot.

export ROS_MASTER_URI=http://<robot ip>:11311/

ROS_HOSTNAME

Should be set to the PC you are as the workstation.

export ROS_HOSTNAME=<workstation IP>

Bags

Para crear un bag que salve todos los mensajes

rosbag record [-O bag_file] -a

Para salvar unos topics en particular:

rosbag record [-O bag_file] [topic_name1] [topic_name2] ...

La grabación se termina cuando se pulsa ctrl-c

Pasar de .bag.active a .bag

rosbag reindex *.bag.active
rosbag fix *.bag.active new_name.bag

Cierre seguro del rosbag

rosnode kill /vt/rosbag/record

Examples Commands

$ rostopic find sensor_msgs/String // you want to find all the topics of a certain message type

More info: http://wiki.ros.org/ROS/CommandLineTools

ROS2: https://osrf.github.io/ros2multirobotbook/intro.html

ROS1 & NodeJs: http://wiki.ros.org/rosnodejs

Tips

📝 Note: Cuando corremos un comando echo -c , el topico se mostrara sin salto de linea

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