ROS2 Client Libraries Cheetsheet

Using colcon to build packages

sudo apt install python3-colcon-common-extensions

colcon build –symlink-install

May throw error if using virtual space, we need to

conda install -c conda-forge catkin_pkg empy lark

colcon test

source install/setup.bash

echo “source /usr/share/colcon_cd/function/colcon_cd.sh” >> ~/.bashrc

colcon_cd <pkgname>

the root directory for the search will be set at the first call

echo “source /usr/share/colcon_argcomplete/hook/colcon-argcomplete.bash” >> ~/.bashrc

Creating a workspace

rosdep install -i –from-path src –rosdistro foxy -y

Creating a package

ros2 pkg create –build-type ament_cmake –node-name my_node my_package

Writing a simple publisher and subscriber (C++)

ros2 pkg create –build-type ament_cmake cpp_pubsub

#include <chrono>
#include <functional>
#include <memory>
#include <string>

#include "rclcpp/rclcpp.hpp"
#include "std_msgs/msg/string.hpp"

using namespace std::chrono_literals;

/* This example creates a subclass of Node and uses std::bind() to register a
* member function as a callback from the timer. */

class MinimalPublisher : public rclcpp::Node
{
  public:
    MinimalPublisher()
    : Node("minimal_publisher"), count_(0)
    {
      publisher_ = this->create_publisher<std_msgs::msg::String>("topic", 10);
      timer_ = this->create_wall_timer(
      500ms, std::bind(&MinimalPublisher::timer_callback, this));
    }

  private:
    void timer_callback()
    {
      auto message = std_msgs::msg::String();
      message.data = "Hello, world! " + std::to_string(count_++);
      RCLCPP_INFO(this->get_logger(), "Publishing: '%s'", message.data.c_str());
      publisher_->publish(message);
    }
    rclcpp::TimerBase::SharedPtr timer_;
    rclcpp::Publisher<std_msgs::msg::String>::SharedPtr publisher_;
    size_t count_;
};

int main(int argc, char * argv[])
{
  rclcpp::init(argc, argv);
  rclcpp::spin(std::make_shared<MinimalPublisher>());
  rclcpp::shutdown();
  return 0;
}

#include <memory>

#include "rclcpp/rclcpp.hpp"
#include "std_msgs/msg/string.hpp"
using std::placeholders::_1;

class MinimalSubscriber : public rclcpp::Node
{
  public:
    MinimalSubscriber()
    : Node("minimal_subscriber")
    {
      subscription_ = this->create_subscription<std_msgs::msg::String>(
      "topic", 10, std::bind(&MinimalSubscriber::topic_callback, this, _1));
    }

  private:
    void topic_callback(const std_msgs::msg::String::SharedPtr msg) const
    {
      RCLCPP_INFO(this->get_logger(), "I heard: '%s'", msg->data.c_str());
    }
    rclcpp::Subscription<std_msgs::msg::String>::SharedPtr subscription_;
};

int main(int argc, char * argv[])
{
  rclcpp::init(argc, argv);
  rclcpp::spin(std::make_shared<MinimalSubscriber>());
  rclcpp::shutdown();
  return 0;
}

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<?xml-model href="http://download.ros.org/schema/package_format3.xsd" schematypens="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"?>
<package format="3">
  <name>cpp_pubsub</name>
  <version>0.0.0</version>
  <description>Examples of minimal publisher/subscriber using rclcpp</description>
  <maintainer email="[email protected]">shiming</maintainer>
  <license>Apache License 2.0</license>

  <buildtool_depend>ament_cmake</buildtool_depend>

  <depend>rclcpp</depend>
  <depend>std_msgs</depend>

  <test_depend>ament_lint_auto</test_depend>
  <test_depend>ament_lint_common</test_depend>

  <export>
    <build_type>ament_cmake</build_type>
  </export>
</package>

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5)
project(cpp_pubsub)

# Default to C99
if(NOT CMAKE_C_STANDARD)
  set(CMAKE_C_STANDARD 99)
endif()

# Default to C++14
if(NOT CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD)
  set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 14)
endif()

if(CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCXX OR CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "Clang")
  add_compile_options(-Wall -Wextra -Wpedantic)
endif()

# find dependencies
find_package(ament_cmake REQUIRED)
# uncomment the following section in order to fill in
# further dependencies manually.
# find_package(<dependency> REQUIRED)
find_package(rclcpp REQUIRED)
find_package(std_msgs REQUIRED)

add_executable(talker src/publisher_member_function.cpp)
ament_target_dependencies(talker rclcpp std_msgs)

add_executable(listener src/subscriber_member_function.cpp)
ament_target_dependencies(listener rclcpp std_msgs)

install(TARGETS
  talker
  listener
  DESTINATION lib/${PROJECT_NAME})

if(BUILD_TESTING)
  find_package(ament_lint_auto REQUIRED)
  # the following line skips the linter which checks for copyrights
  # uncomment the line when a copyright and license is not present in all source files
  #set(ament_cmake_copyright_FOUND TRUE)
  # the following line skips cpplint (only works in a git repo)
  # uncomment the line when this package is not in a git repo
  #set(ament_cmake_cpplint_FOUND TRUE)
  ament_lint_auto_find_test_dependencies()
endif()

ament_package()

Writing a simple publisher and subscriber (Python)

ros2 pkg create –build-type ament_python py_pubsub

import rclpy
from rclpy.node import Node

from std_msgs.msg import String


class MinimalPublisher(Node):

    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__('minimal_publisher')
        self.publisher_ = self.create_publisher(String, 'topic', 10)
        timer_period = 0.5  # seconds
        self.timer = self.create_timer(timer_period, self.timer_callback)
        self.i = 0

    def timer_callback(self):
        msg = String()
        msg.data = 'Hello World: %d' % self.i
        self.publisher_.publish(msg)
        self.get_logger().info('Publishing: "%s"' % msg.data)
        self.i += 1


def main(args=None):
    rclpy.init(args=args)

    minimal_publisher = MinimalPublisher()

    rclpy.spin(minimal_publisher)

    # Destroy the node explicitly
    # (optional - otherwise it will be done automatically
    # when the garbage collector destroys the node object)
    minimal_publisher.destroy_node()
    rclpy.shutdown()


if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

import rclpy
from rclpy.node import Node

from std_msgs.msg import String


class MinimalSubscriber(Node):

    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__('minimal_subscriber')
        self.subscription = self.create_subscription(
            String,
            'topic',
            self.listener_callback,
            10)
        self.subscription  # prevent unused variable warning

    def listener_callback(self, msg):
        self.get_logger().info('I heard: "%s"' % msg.data)


def main(args=None):
    rclpy.init(args=args)

    minimal_subscriber = MinimalSubscriber()

    rclpy.spin(minimal_subscriber)

    # Destroy the node explicitly
    # (optional - otherwise it will be done automatically
    # when the garbage collector destroys the node object)
    minimal_subscriber.destroy_node()
    rclpy.shutdown()


if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<?xml-model href="http://download.ros.org/schema/package_format3.xsd" schematypens="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"?>
<package format="3">
  <name>py_pubsub</name>
  <version>0.0.0</version>
  <description>Examples of minimal publisher/subscriber using rclpy</description>
  <maintainer email="[email protected]">shiming</maintainer>
  <license>Apache License 2.0</license>

  <exec_depend>rclpy</exec_depend>
  <exec_depend>std_msgs</exec_depend>

  <test_depend>ament_copyright</test_depend>
  <test_depend>ament_flake8</test_depend>
  <test_depend>ament_pep257</test_depend>
  <test_depend>python3-pytest</test_depend>

  <export>
    <build_type>ament_python</build_type>
  </export>
</package>

from setuptools import setup

package_name = 'py_pubsub'

setup(
    name=package_name,
    version='0.0.0',
    packages=[package_name],
    data_files=[
        ('share/ament_index/resource_index/packages',
            ['resource/' + package_name]),
        ('share/' + package_name, ['package.xml']),
    ],
    install_requires=['setuptools'],
    zip_safe=True,
    maintainer='shiming',
    maintainer_email='[email protected]',
    description='Examples of minimal publisher/subscriber using rclpy',
    license='Apache License 2.0',
    tests_require=['pytest'],
    entry_points={
        'console_scripts': [
            'talker = py_pubsub.publisher_member_function:main',
            'listener = py_pubsub.subscriber_member_function:main',
        ],
    },
)

[develop]
script-dir=$base/lib/py_pubsub
[install]
install-scripts=$base/lib/py_pubsub

Writing a simple service and client (C++)

ros2 pkg create –build-type ament_cmake cpp_srvcli –dependencies rclcpp example_interfaces

#include "rclcpp/rclcpp.hpp"
#include "example_interfaces/srv/add_two_ints.hpp"

#include <memory>

void add(const std::shared_ptr<example_interfaces::srv::AddTwoInts::Request> request,
          std::shared_ptr<example_interfaces::srv::AddTwoInts::Response>      response)
{
  response->sum = request->a + request->b;
  RCLCPP_INFO(rclcpp::get_logger("rclcpp"), "Incoming request\na: %ld" " b: %ld",
                request->a, request->b);
  RCLCPP_INFO(rclcpp::get_logger("rclcpp"), "sending back response: [%ld]", (long int)response->sum);
}

int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
  rclcpp::init(argc, argv);

  std::shared_ptr<rclcpp::Node> node = rclcpp::Node::make_shared("add_two_ints_server");

  rclcpp::Service<example_interfaces::srv::AddTwoInts>::SharedPtr service =
    node->create_service<example_interfaces::srv::AddTwoInts>("add_two_ints", &add);

  RCLCPP_INFO(rclcpp::get_logger("rclcpp"), "Ready to add two ints.");

  rclcpp::spin(node);
  rclcpp::shutdown();
}

#include "rclcpp/rclcpp.hpp"
#include "example_interfaces/srv/add_two_ints.hpp"

#include <chrono>
#include <cstdlib>
#include <memory>

using namespace std::chrono_literals;

int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
  rclcpp::init(argc, argv);

  if (argc != 3) {
      RCLCPP_INFO(rclcpp::get_logger("rclcpp"), "usage: add_two_ints_client X Y");
      return 1;
  }

  std::shared_ptr<rclcpp::Node> node = rclcpp::Node::make_shared("add_two_ints_client");
  rclcpp::Client<example_interfaces::srv::AddTwoInts>::SharedPtr client =
    node->create_client<example_interfaces::srv::AddTwoInts>("add_two_ints");

  auto request = std::make_shared<example_interfaces::srv::AddTwoInts::Request>();
  request->a = atoll(argv[1]);
  request->b = atoll(argv[2]);

  while (!client->wait_for_service(1s)) {
    if (!rclcpp::ok()) {
      RCLCPP_ERROR(rclcpp::get_logger("rclcpp"), "Interrupted while waiting for the service. Exiting.");
      return 0;
    }
    RCLCPP_INFO(rclcpp::get_logger("rclcpp"), "service not available, waiting again...");
  }

  auto result = client->async_send_request(request);
  // Wait for the result.
  if (rclcpp::spin_until_future_complete(node, result) ==
    rclcpp::FutureReturnCode::SUCCESS)
  {
    RCLCPP_INFO(rclcpp::get_logger("rclcpp"), "Sum: %ld", result.get()->sum);
  } else {
    RCLCPP_ERROR(rclcpp::get_logger("rclcpp"), "Failed to call service add_two_ints");
  }

  rclcpp::shutdown();
  return 0;
}

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<?xml-model href="http://download.ros.org/schema/package_format3.xsd" schematypens="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"?>
<package format="3">
  <name>cpp_srvcli</name>
  <version>0.0.0</version>
  <description>C++ client server tutorial</description>
  <maintainer email="[email protected]">shiming</maintainer>
  <license>Apache License 2.0</license>

  <buildtool_depend>ament_cmake</buildtool_depend>

  <depend>rclcpp</depend>
  <depend>example_interfaces</depend>

  <test_depend>ament_lint_auto</test_depend>
  <test_depend>ament_lint_common</test_depend>

  <export>
    <build_type>ament_cmake</build_type>
  </export>
</package>

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5)
project(cpp_srvcli)

# Default to C99
if(NOT CMAKE_C_STANDARD)
  set(CMAKE_C_STANDARD 99)
endif()

# Default to C++14
if(NOT CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD)
  set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 14)
endif()

if(CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCXX OR CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "Clang")
  add_compile_options(-Wall -Wextra -Wpedantic)
endif()

# find dependencies
find_package(ament_cmake REQUIRED)
find_package(rclcpp REQUIRED)
find_package(example_interfaces REQUIRED)

add_executable(server src/add_two_ints_server.cpp)
ament_target_dependencies(server rclcpp example_interfaces)

add_executable(client src/add_two_ints_client.cpp)
ament_target_dependencies(client rclcpp example_interfaces)

install(TARGETS
  server
  client
  DESTINATION lib/${PROJECT_NAME})

if(BUILD_TESTING)
  find_package(ament_lint_auto REQUIRED)
  # the following line skips the linter which checks for copyrights
  # uncomment the line when a copyright and license is not present in all source files
  #set(ament_cmake_copyright_FOUND TRUE)
  # the following line skips cpplint (only works in a git repo)
  # uncomment the line when this package is not in a git repo
  #set(ament_cmake_cpplint_FOUND TRUE)
  ament_lint_auto_find_test_dependencies()
endif()

ament_package()

Writing a simple service and client (Python)

ros2 pkg create –build-type ament_python py_srvcli –dependencies rclpy example_interfaces

from example_interfaces.srv import AddTwoInts

import rclpy
from rclpy.node import Node


class MinimalService(Node):

    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__('minimal_service')
        self.srv = self.create_service(AddTwoInts, 'add_two_ints', self.add_two_ints_callback)

    def add_two_ints_callback(self, request, response):
        response.sum = request.a + request.b
        self.get_logger().info('Incoming request\na: %d b: %d' % (request.a, request.b))

        return response


def main(args=None):
    rclpy.init(args=args)

    minimal_service = MinimalService()

    rclpy.spin(minimal_service)

    rclpy.shutdown()


if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

import sys

from example_interfaces.srv import AddTwoInts
import rclpy
from rclpy.node import Node


class MinimalClientAsync(Node):

    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__('minimal_client_async')
        self.cli = self.create_client(AddTwoInts, 'add_two_ints')
        while not self.cli.wait_for_service(timeout_sec=1.0):
            self.get_logger().info('service not available, waiting again...')
        self.req = AddTwoInts.Request()

    def send_request(self, a, b):
        self.req.a = a
        self.req.b = b
        self.future = self.cli.call_async(self.req)
        rclpy.spin_until_future_complete(self, self.future)
        return self.future.result()


def main(args=None):
    rclpy.init(args=args)

    minimal_client = MinimalClientAsync()
    response = minimal_client.send_request(int(sys.argv[1]), int(sys.argv[2]))
    minimal_client.get_logger().info(
        'Result of add_two_ints: for %d + %d = %d' %
        (int(sys.argv[1]), int(sys.argv[2]), response.sum))

    minimal_client.destroy_node()
    rclpy.shutdown()


if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<?xml-model href="http://download.ros.org/schema/package_format3.xsd" schematypens="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"?>
<package format="3">
  <name>py_srvcli</name>
  <version>0.0.0</version>
  <description>Python client server tutorial</description>
  <maintainer email="[email protected]">shiming</maintainer>
  <license>Apache License 2.0</license>

  <depend>rclpy</depend>
  <depend>example_interfaces</depend>

  <test_depend>ament_copyright</test_depend>
  <test_depend>ament_flake8</test_depend>
  <test_depend>ament_pep257</test_depend>
  <test_depend>python3-pytest</test_depend>

  <export>
    <build_type>ament_python</build_type>
  </export>
</package>

from setuptools import setup

package_name = 'py_srvcli'

setup(
    name=package_name,
    version='0.0.0',
    packages=[package_name],
    data_files=[
        ('share/ament_index/resource_index/packages',
            ['resource/' + package_name]),
        ('share/' + package_name, ['package.xml']),
    ],
    install_requires=['setuptools'],
    zip_safe=True,
    maintainer='shiming',
    maintainer_email='[email protected]',
    description='Python client server tutorial',
    license='Apache License 2.0',
    tests_require=['pytest'],
    entry_points={
        'console_scripts': [
            'service = py_srvcli.service_member_function:main',
            'client = py_srvcli.client_member_function:main',
        ],
    },
)

Creating custom msg and srv files

ros2 pkg create –build-type ament_cmake tutorial_interfaces

int64 num

geometry_msgs/Point center
float64 radius

int64 a
int64 b
int64 c
---
int64 sum

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<?xml-model href="http://download.ros.org/schema/package_format3.xsd" schematypens="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"?>
<package format="3">
  <name>tutorial_interfaces</name>
  <version>0.0.0</version>
  <description>TODO: Package description</description>
  <maintainer email="[email protected]">shiming</maintainer>
  <license>TODO: License declaration</license>

  <buildtool_depend>ament_cmake</buildtool_depend>

  <depend>geometry_msgs</depend>
  <buildtool_depend>rosidl_default_generators</buildtool_depend>
  <exec_depend>rosidl_default_runtime</exec_depend>
  <member_of_group>rosidl_interface_packages</member_of_group>

  <test_depend>ament_lint_auto</test_depend>
  <test_depend>ament_lint_common</test_depend>

  <export>
    <build_type>ament_cmake</build_type>
  </export>
</package>

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5)
project(tutorial_interfaces)

# Default to C99
if(NOT CMAKE_C_STANDARD)
  set(CMAKE_C_STANDARD 99)
endif()

# Default to C++14
if(NOT CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD)
  set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 14)
endif()

if(CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCXX OR CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "Clang")
  add_compile_options(-Wall -Wextra -Wpedantic)
endif()

# find dependencies
find_package(ament_cmake REQUIRED)
# uncomment the following section in order to fill in
# further dependencies manually.
# find_package(<dependency> REQUIRED)
find_package(geometry_msgs REQUIRED)
find_package(rosidl_default_generators REQUIRED)

rosidl_generate_interfaces(${PROJECT_NAME}
  "msg/Num.msg"
  "msg/Sphere.msg"
  "srv/AddThreeInts.srv"
  DEPENDENCIES geometry_msgs # Add packages that above messages depend on, in this case geometry_msgs for Sphere.msg
)

if(BUILD_TESTING)
  find_package(ament_lint_auto REQUIRED)
  # the following line skips the linter which checks for copyrights
  # uncomment the line when a copyright and license is not present in all source files
  #set(ament_cmake_copyright_FOUND TRUE)
  # the following line skips cpplint (only works in a git repo)
  # uncomment the line when this package is not in a git repo
  #set(ament_cmake_cpplint_FOUND TRUE)
  ament_lint_auto_find_test_dependencies()
endif()

ament_package()

Implementing custom interfaces

ros2 pkg create –build-type ament_cmake more_interfaces

uint8 PHONE_TYPE_HOME=0
uint8 PHONE_TYPE_WORK=1
uint8 PHONE_TYPE_MOBILE=2

string first_name
string last_name
string phone_number
uint8 phone_type

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5)
project(more_interfaces)

# Default to C99
if(NOT CMAKE_C_STANDARD)
  set(CMAKE_C_STANDARD 99)
endif()

# Default to C++14
if(NOT CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD)
  set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 14)
endif()

if(CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCXX OR CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "Clang")
  add_compile_options(-Wall -Wextra -Wpedantic)
endif()

# find dependencies
find_package(ament_cmake REQUIRED)
# uncomment the following section in order to fill in
# further dependencies manually.
# find_package(<dependency> REQUIRED)
find_package(rosidl_default_generators REQUIRED)

set(msg_files
  "msg/AddressBook.msg"
)

rosidl_generate_interfaces(${PROJECT_NAME}
  ${msg_files}
)

ament_export_dependencies(rosidl_default_runtime)

find_package(rclcpp REQUIRED)

add_executable(publish_address_book src/publish_address_book.cpp)
ament_target_dependencies(publish_address_book rclcpp)

install(TARGETS
    publish_address_book
  DESTINATION lib/${PROJECT_NAME})

rosidl_target_interfaces(publish_address_book
  ${PROJECT_NAME} "rosidl_typesupport_cpp")

if(BUILD_TESTING)
  find_package(ament_lint_auto REQUIRED)
  # the following line skips the linter which checks for copyrights
  # uncomment the line when a copyright and license is not present in all source files
  #set(ament_cmake_copyright_FOUND TRUE)
  # the following line skips cpplint (only works in a git repo)
  # uncomment the line when this package is not in a git repo
  #set(ament_cmake_cpplint_FOUND TRUE)
  ament_lint_auto_find_test_dependencies()
endif()

ament_package()

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<?xml-model href="http://download.ros.org/schema/package_format3.xsd" schematypens="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"?>
<package format="3">
  <name>more_interfaces</name>
  <version>0.0.0</version>
  <description>TODO: Package description</description>
  <maintainer email="[email protected]">shiming</maintainer>
  <license>TODO: License declaration</license>

  <buildtool_depend>ament_cmake</buildtool_depend>

  <buildtool_depend>rosidl_default_generators</buildtool_depend>

  <exec_depend>rosidl_default_runtime</exec_depend>

  <member_of_group>rosidl_interface_packages</member_of_group>

  <test_depend>ament_lint_auto</test_depend>
  <test_depend>ament_lint_common</test_depend>

  <export>
    <build_type>ament_cmake</build_type>
  </export>
</package>

#include <chrono>
#include <memory>

#include "rclcpp/rclcpp.hpp"
#include "more_interfaces/msg/address_book.hpp"

using namespace std::chrono_literals;

class AddressBookPublisher : public rclcpp::Node
{
public:
  AddressBookPublisher()
  : Node("address_book_publisher")
  {
    address_book_publisher_ =
      this->create_publisher<more_interfaces::msg::AddressBook>("address_book", 10);

    auto publish_msg = [this]() -> void {
        auto message = more_interfaces::msg::AddressBook();

        message.first_name = "John";
        message.last_name = "Doe";
        message.phone_number = "1234567890";
        message.phone_type = message.PHONE_TYPE_MOBILE;

        std::cout << "Publishing Contact\nFirst:" << message.first_name <<
          "  Last:" << message.last_name << std::endl;

        this->address_book_publisher_->publish(message);
      };
    timer_ = this->create_wall_timer(1s, publish_msg);
  }

private:
  rclcpp::Publisher<more_interfaces::msg::AddressBook>::SharedPtr address_book_publisher_;
  rclcpp::TimerBase::SharedPtr timer_;
};


int main(int argc, char * argv[])
{
  rclcpp::init(argc, argv);
  rclcpp::spin(std::make_shared<AddressBookPublisher>());
  rclcpp::shutdown();

  return 0;
}

Using parameters in a class (C++)

ros2 pkg create –build-type ament_cmake cpp_parameters –dependencies rclcpp

#include <chrono>
#include <functional>
#include <string>

#include <rclcpp/rclcpp.hpp>

using namespace std::chrono_literals;

class MinimalParam : public rclcpp::Node
{
public:
  MinimalParam()
  : Node("minimal_param_node")
  {
    auto param_desc = rcl_interfaces::msg::ParameterDescriptor{};
    param_desc.description = "This parameter is mine!";

    this->declare_parameter("my_parameter", "world", param_desc);

    timer_ = this->create_wall_timer(
      1000ms, std::bind(&MinimalParam::timer_callback, this));
  }

  void timer_callback()
  {
    std::string my_param = this->get_parameter("my_parameter").as_string();

    RCLCPP_INFO(this->get_logger(), "Hello %s!", my_param.c_str());

    std::vector<rclcpp::Parameter> all_new_parameters{rclcpp::Parameter("my_parameter", "world")};
    this->set_parameters(all_new_parameters);
  }

private:
  rclcpp::TimerBase::SharedPtr timer_;
};

int main(int argc, char ** argv)
{
  rclcpp::init(argc, argv);
  rclcpp::spin(std::make_shared<MinimalParam>());
  rclcpp::shutdown();
  return 0;
}

from launch import LaunchDescription
from launch_ros.actions import Node

def generate_launch_description():
    return LaunchDescription([
        Node(
            package="cpp_parameters",
            executable="minimal_param_node",
            name="custom_minimal_param_node",
            output="screen",
            emulate_tty=True,
            parameters=[
                {"my_parameter": "earth"}
            ]
        )
    ])

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5)
project(cpp_parameters)

# Default to C99
if(NOT CMAKE_C_STANDARD)
  set(CMAKE_C_STANDARD 99)
endif()

# Default to C++14
if(NOT CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD)
  set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 14)
endif()

if(CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCXX OR CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "Clang")
  add_compile_options(-Wall -Wextra -Wpedantic)
endif()

# find dependencies
find_package(ament_cmake REQUIRED)
find_package(rclcpp REQUIRED)

add_executable(minimal_param_node src/cpp_parameters_node.cpp)
ament_target_dependencies(minimal_param_node rclcpp)

install(TARGETS
  minimal_param_node
  DESTINATION lib/${PROJECT_NAME}
)

install(
  DIRECTORY launch
  DESTINATION share/${PROJECT_NAME}
)

if(BUILD_TESTING)
  find_package(ament_lint_auto REQUIRED)
  # the following line skips the linter which checks for copyrights
  # uncomment the line when a copyright and license is not present in all source files
  #set(ament_cmake_copyright_FOUND TRUE)
  # the following line skips cpplint (only works in a git repo)
  # uncomment the line when this package is not in a git repo
  #set(ament_cmake_cpplint_FOUND TRUE)
  ament_lint_auto_find_test_dependencies()
endif()

ament_package()

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<?xml-model href="http://download.ros.org/schema/package_format3.xsd" schematypens="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"?>
<package format="3">
  <name>cpp_parameters</name>
  <version>0.0.0</version>
  <description>C++ parameter tutorial</description>
  <maintainer email="[email protected]">shiming</maintainer>
  <license>Apache License 2.0</license>

  <buildtool_depend>ament_cmake</buildtool_depend>

  <depend>rclcpp</depend>

  <test_depend>ament_lint_auto</test_depend>
  <test_depend>ament_lint_common</test_depend>

  <export>
    <build_type>ament_cmake</build_type>
  </export>
</package>

Using parameters in a class (Python)

ros2 pkg create –build-type ament_python python_parameters –dependencies rclpy

import rclpy
import rclpy.node

class MinimalParam(rclpy.node.Node):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__('minimal_param_node')

        from rcl_interfaces.msg import ParameterDescriptor
        my_parameter_descriptor = ParameterDescriptor(description='This parameter is mine!')

        self.declare_parameter('my_parameter', 'world', my_parameter_descriptor)

        self.timer = self.create_timer(1, self.timer_callback)

    def timer_callback(self):
        my_param = self.get_parameter('my_parameter').get_parameter_value().string_value

        self.get_logger().info('Hello %s!' % my_param)

        my_new_param = rclpy.parameter.Parameter(
            'my_parameter',
            rclpy.Parameter.Type.STRING,
            'world'
        )
        all_new_parameters = [my_new_param]
        self.set_parameters(all_new_parameters)

def main():
    rclpy.init()
    node = MinimalParam()
    rclpy.spin(node)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

from launch import LaunchDescription
from launch_ros.actions import Node

def generate_launch_description():
    return LaunchDescription([
        Node(
            package='python_parameters',
            executable='minimal_param_node',
            name='custom_minimal_param_node',
            output='screen',
            emulate_tty=True,
            parameters=[
                {'my_parameter': 'earth'}
            ]
        )
    ])

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<?xml-model href="http://download.ros.org/schema/package_format3.xsd" schematypens="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema"?>
<package format="3">
  <name>python_parameters</name>
  <version>0.0.0</version>
  <description>Python parameter tutorial</description>
  <maintainer email="[email protected]">shiming</maintainer>
  <license>Apache License 2.0</license>

  <depend>rclpy</depend>

  <test_depend>ament_copyright</test_depend>
  <test_depend>ament_flake8</test_depend>
  <test_depend>ament_pep257</test_depend>
  <test_depend>python3-pytest</test_depend>

  <export>
    <build_type>ament_python</build_type>
  </export>
</package>

import os
from glob import glob
from setuptools import setup

package_name = 'python_parameters'

setup(
    name=package_name,
    version='0.0.0',
    packages=[package_name],
    data_files=[
        ('share/ament_index/resource_index/packages',
            ['resource/' + package_name]),
        ('share/' + package_name, ['package.xml']),
        (os.path.join('share', package_name), glob('launch/*launch.[pxy][yma]*')),
    ],
    install_requires=['setuptools'],
    zip_safe=True,
    maintainer='shiming',
    maintainer_email='[email protected]',
    description='Python parameter tutorial',
    license='Apache License 2.0',
    tests_require=['pytest'],
    entry_points={
        'console_scripts': [
            'minimal_param_node = python_parameters.python_parameters_node:main',
        ],
    },
)

Using ros2doctor to identify issues

ros2 doctor

Creating and using plugins (C++)

ros2 pkg create –build-type ament_cmake polygon_base –dependencies pluginlib –node-name area_node

#ifndef POLYGON_BASE_REGULAR_POLYGON_HPP
#define POLYGON_BASE_REGULAR_POLYGON_HPP

namespace polygon_base
{
  class RegularPolygon
  {
    public:
      virtual void initialize(double side_length) = 0;
      virtual double area() = 0;
      virtual ~RegularPolygon(){}

    protected:
      RegularPolygon(){}
  };
}  // namespace polygon_base

#endif  // POLYGON_BASE_REGULAR_POLYGON_HPP

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5)
project(polygon_base)

# Default to C99
if(NOT CMAKE_C_STANDARD)
  set(CMAKE_C_STANDARD 99)
endif()

# Default to C++14
if(NOT CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD)
  set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 14)
endif()

if(CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCXX OR CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "Clang")
  add_compile_options(-Wall -Wextra -Wpedantic)
endif()

# find dependencies
find_package(ament_cmake REQUIRED)
find_package(pluginlib REQUIRED)

add_executable(area_node src/area_node.cpp)
target_include_directories(area_node PUBLIC
  $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/include>
  $<INSTALL_INTERFACE:include>)
ament_target_dependencies(
  area_node
  "pluginlib"
)

install(
  DIRECTORY include/
  DESTINATION include
)

install(TARGETS area_node
  DESTINATION lib/${PROJECT_NAME})

ament_export_include_directories(
  include
)

if(BUILD_TESTING)
  find_package(ament_lint_auto REQUIRED)
  # the following line skips the linter which checks for copyrights
  # uncomment the line when a copyright and license is not present in all source files
  #set(ament_cmake_copyright_FOUND TRUE)
  # the following line skips cpplint (only works in a git repo)
  # uncomment the line when this package is not in a git repo
  #set(ament_cmake_cpplint_FOUND TRUE)
  ament_lint_auto_find_test_dependencies()
endif()

ament_package()

ros2 pkg create –build-type ament_cmake polygon_plugins –dependencies polygon_base pluginlib –library-name polygon_plugins

#include <polygon_base/regular_polygon.hpp>
#include <cmath>

namespace polygon_plugins
{
  class Square : public polygon_base::RegularPolygon
  {
    public:
      void initialize(double side_length) override
      {
        side_length_ = side_length;
      }

      double area() override
      {
        return side_length_ * side_length_;
      }

    protected:
      double side_length_;
  };

  class Triangle : public polygon_base::RegularPolygon
  {
    public:
      void initialize(double side_length) override
      {
        side_length_ = side_length;
      }

      double area() override
      {
        return 0.5 * side_length_ * getHeight();
      }

      double getHeight()
      {
        return sqrt((side_length_ * side_length_) - ((side_length_ / 2) * (side_length_ / 2)));
      }

    protected:
      double side_length_;
  };
}

#include <pluginlib/class_list_macros.hpp>

PLUGINLIB_EXPORT_CLASS(polygon_plugins::Square, polygon_base::RegularPolygon)
PLUGINLIB_EXPORT_CLASS(polygon_plugins::Triangle, polygon_base::RegularPolygon)

<library path="polygon_plugins">
  <class type="polygon_plugins::Square" base_class_type="polygon_base::RegularPolygon">
    <description>This is a square plugin.</description>
  </class>
  <class type="polygon_plugins::Triangle" base_class_type="polygon_base::RegularPolygon">
    <description>This is a triangle plugin.</description>
  </class>
</library>

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5)
project(polygon_plugins)

# Default to C99
if(NOT CMAKE_C_STANDARD)
  set(CMAKE_C_STANDARD 99)
endif()

# Default to C++14
if(NOT CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD)
  set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 14)
endif()

if(CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCXX OR CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "Clang")
  add_compile_options(-Wall -Wextra -Wpedantic)
endif()

# find dependencies
find_package(ament_cmake REQUIRED)
find_package(ament_cmake_ros REQUIRED)
find_package(polygon_base REQUIRED)
find_package(pluginlib REQUIRED)

add_library(polygon_plugins src/polygon_plugins.cpp)
target_include_directories(polygon_plugins PUBLIC
  $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/include>
  $<INSTALL_INTERFACE:include>)
ament_target_dependencies(
  polygon_plugins
  "polygon_base"
  "pluginlib"
)

# Causes the visibility macros to use dllexport rather than dllimport,
# which is appropriate when building the dll but not consuming it.
target_compile_definitions(polygon_plugins PRIVATE "POLYGON_PLUGINS_BUILDING_LIBRARY")

pluginlib_export_plugin_description_file(polygon_base plugins.xml)

install(
  DIRECTORY include/
  DESTINATION include
)
install(
  TARGETS polygon_plugins
  EXPORT export_${PROJECT_NAME}
  ARCHIVE DESTINATION lib
  LIBRARY DESTINATION lib
  RUNTIME DESTINATION bin
)

if(BUILD_TESTING)
  find_package(ament_lint_auto REQUIRED)
  # the following line skips the linter which checks for copyrights
  # uncomment the line when a copyright and license is not present in all source files
  #set(ament_cmake_copyright_FOUND TRUE)
  # the following line skips cpplint (only works in a git repo)
  # uncomment the line when this package is not in a git repo
  #set(ament_cmake_cpplint_FOUND TRUE)
  ament_lint_auto_find_test_dependencies()
endif()

ament_export_include_directories(
  include
)
ament_export_libraries(
  polygon_plugins
)
ament_export_targets(
  export_${PROJECT_NAME}
)

ament_package()