First-steps.md

First steps in ROS

Install ROS Indigo

$ sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://packages.ros.org/ros/ubuntu $(lsb_release -sc) main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ros-latest.list'
$ sudo apt-key adv --keyserver hkp://ha.pool.sks-keyservers.net:80 --recv-key 0xB01FA116
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install ros-indigo-desktop-full

Create the workspace

1. Create the workspace folders:

$ mkdir catkin_ws
$ cd catkin_ws
$ mkdir src

2. Initialize the workspace:

$ cd src
$ catkin_init_workspace

Build the workspace

1. While in the _catkin_workspace folder do:

$ catkin_make

This creates the following folder structure:

catkin_ws
    |-build
    |-devel
    |-src

2. Source the workspace:

$ source devel/setup.bash

NOTE: You will need to source your workspace on every terminal you open, to avoid this, we can source it permanently by:

$ echo "source ~/catkin_ws/devel/setup.bash" >> ~/.bashrc

Assuming your workspace is in your user's folder.

Creating a node in python

1. Go to src folder.
2. Create a package by:

$ catkin_create_pkg my_package

3. Go into the package directory and create a folder nodes :

$ cd my_package
$ mkdir nodes

4. Create the python executable and make it executable:

$ cd nodes
$ touch my_package.py
$ chmod +x my_package.py

5. The file _my_package.py is ready for coding.