Install ROS in reComputer

Introduction

ROS (Robot Operating System) is an open-source framework for building robot software. It is not actually an operating system, but rather a flexible middleware that provides tools, libraries, and conventions to simplify the development of complex and distributed robotic systems.

Key features of ROS include:

  • Modular Design It organizes software into packages and nodes, making code reusable and easy to maintain.
  • Communication Infrastructure ROS uses a publisher/subscriber model for message passing and a service/action system for request/response interactions between nodes.
  • Simulation and Visualization Tools like RViz and Gazebo allow developers to visualize sensor data and simulate robots in a virtual environment.
  • Hardware Abstraction ROS provides drivers for many sensors and actuators, making it easier to integrate real-world hardwarimage-20250918154012205

This tutorial will show you how to install the development environment for ROS1 and ROS2 on reComputer.

Note: Please select different ROS versions based on the version of Ubuntu in your system.

JetPack VersionUbuntu VersionRecommended ROS VersionUse Case
JetPack 5.xUbuntu 20.04ROS1 Noetic / ROS2 FoxyBest choice for projects needing ROS1/ROS2 hybrid development, long-term support, and stable ecosystem.
JetPack 6.xUbuntu 22.04ROS2 HumbleIdeal for new projects, long-term maintenance, and leveraging Jetson Orin / newer hardware features. ROS1 not officially available (use Docker or build from source if needed).

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Install ROS1

ROS1 (Robot Operating System 1) is an open-source framework for building robot software. It uses a central master (roscore) and a node-based architecture, where nodes communicate via topics, services, and actions. ROS1 provides tools for visualization, simulation, and data logging, and is widely used in robotics research and prototyping.

Step 1. Setup your computer to accept software from packages.ros.org.

bash
sudo sh -c '. /etc/lsb-release && echo "deb http://mirrors.ustc.edu.cn/ros/ubuntu/ `lsb_release -cs` main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ros-latest.list'

Note: Please setting up your sources.list file based on the region where you are located.Follow by this artical

Step 2. Set up your keys.

bash
sudo apt install curl gnupg2 lsb-release -y # if you haven't already installed curl

curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ros/rosdistro/master/ros.asc | sudo apt-key add -

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Step 3. Installation.

bash
sudo apt update
sudo apt install ros-noetic-desktop-full
sudo apt-get install python3-rosdep
sudo rosdep init
rosdep update

Step 4. Set Up ROS Environment.

bash
echo "source /opt/ros/noetic/setup.bash">> ~/.bashrc &&
source ~/.bashrc

Step 5. Install Dependency Tools.

bash
sudo apt install python3-rosinstall python3-rosinstall-generator python3-wstool build-essential

Step 6. Test the Installation.

bash
roscore

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More details you can refer to here

Install ROS2

ROS2 (Robot Operating System 2) is the second generation of the open-source robotics framework, designed to overcome the limitations of ROS1. It is built on top of DDS (Data Distribution Service) for reliable, real-time, and secure communication. ROS2 supports multi-robot systems, works on multiple platforms (Linux, Windows, macOS), and offers improved performance, security, and scalability compared to ROS1.

Step 1. Set locale.

bash
locale  # check for UTF-8

image-20250918161452733

bash
sudo apt update && sudo apt install locales
sudo locale-gen en_US en_US.UTF-8
sudo update-locale LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
export LANG=en_US.UTF-8
locale  # verify settings

Step 2. You will need to add the ROS 2 apt repository to your system.

bash
sudo apt install software-properties-common
sudo add-apt-repository universe

Step 3. Add the official ROS2 apt repository to your Ubuntu system.

bash
sudo apt update && sudo apt install curl -y
export ROS_APT_SOURCE_VERSION=$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/ros-infrastructure/ros-apt-source/releases/latest | grep -F "tag_name" | awk -F\" '{print $4}')
curl -L -o /tmp/ros2-apt-source.deb "https://github.com/ros-infrastructure/ros-apt-source/releases/download/${ROS_APT_SOURCE_VERSION}/ros2-apt-source_${ROS_APT_SOURCE_VERSION}.$(. /etc/os-release && echo $VERSION_CODENAME)_all.deb" # If using Ubuntu derivates use $UBUNTU_CODENAME
sudo dpkg -i /tmp/ros2-apt-source.deb

Step 4. Install ROS 2 packages.

bash
sudo apt update
sudo apt install ros-humble-desktop

Step 5. Install Additional Build Tools.

bash
sudo apt install ros-dev-tools

Step 6. Initialize ROS Environment.

bash
sudo rosdep init
rosdep update

Step 7. Set Up ROS Environment Variables.

bash
echo "source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash" >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Step 8. Try some examples to verify the installation.

In one terminal, source the setup file and then run a C++ talker:

bash
source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash
ros2 run demo_nodes_cpp talker

In another terminal source the setup file and then run a Python listener:

bash
source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash
ros2 run demo_nodes_py listener

image-20250918164335833

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Now, congratulations! 🎉You have successfully installed ROS2. You can now embark on a pleasant development journey.

More details you can refer to here

Resource

ROS1 Tutorials

ROS2 Tutorials

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