AD-R1M ROS 2 Getting Started

This guide covers setting up ROS 2 on your development PC to communicate with and visualize the AD-R1M robot.

Host PC ROS 2 Installation

Install ROS 2 Humble on Ubuntu 22.04 following the official installation guide.

Set Locale

locale  # check for UTF-8

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

Setup Sources

# Enable Ubuntu Universe repository
sudo apt install software-properties-common
sudo add-apt-repository universe

# Add ROS 2 apt repository
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 ${UBUNTU_CODENAME:-${VERSION_CODENAME}})_all.deb"
sudo dpkg -i /tmp/ros2-apt-source.deb

Install ROS 2 Humble

# Update apt cache
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade

# Install ROS 2 Humble Desktop (includes RViz, demos, tutorials)
sudo apt install -y ros-humble-desktop

# Source ROS 2
echo "source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash" >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Warning

Run sudo apt upgrade before installing ROS 2 to ensure systemd and udev-related packages are updated.

Install Zenoh RMW

The AD-R1M uses Zenoh middleware for ROS 2 communication. Install the Zenoh RMW implementation:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install ros-humble-rmw-zenoh-cpp

See rmw_zenoh documentation for more details.

Install Additional Tools (Optional)

# Visualization and debugging tools
sudo apt install -y ros-humble-rviz2 ros-humble-rqt ros-humble-rqt-common-plugins

# TF debugging
sudo apt install -y ros-humble-tf2-tools

# Nav2 tools (for visualization)
sudo apt install -y ros-humble-nav2-rviz-plugins

Communicating with the Robot

The AD-R1M uses Zenoh middleware for efficient, multi-robot ROS 2 communication.

Configure Zenoh Connection

Set environment variables to connect to the robot:

# Set RMW implementation to Zenoh
export RMW_IMPLEMENTATION=rmw_zenoh_cpp

# Configure Zenoh to connect to robot (replace with actual IP)
export ROBOT_IP=<robot-ip-address>
export ZENOH_CONFIG_OVERRIDE='connect/endpoints=["tcp/${ROBOT_IP}:7447"];mode="client"'

Verify Connection

Once configured, verify ROS 2 can see robot topics:

# List available topics
ros2 topic list

You should see topics like:

  • /imu - IMU sensor data

  • /odom - Robot odometry

  • /cam1/scan - Laser scan from ToF camera

  • /cmd_vel - Velocity commands

# Echo sensor data
ros2 topic echo /imu --once

# Check topic frequency
ros2 topic hz /imu

Alternative: Fast-DDS with Discovery Server

If using Fast-DDS instead of Zenoh:

export RMW_IMPLEMENTATION=rmw_fastrtps_cpp
export ROS_DISCOVERY_SERVER=${ROBOT_IP}:11811
ros2 topic list

RViz Visualization

Using start_rviz.sh Script

The easiest way to launch RViz is using the provided script:

# Navigate to the scripts directory
cd platform/common/scripts

# Start RViz for robot 0 (with namespace)
./start_rviz.sh 0

# Single robot mode (no namespace)
./start_rviz.sh 0 false

What the script does:

  • Configures Zenoh to connect to ad-r1m-<N>.local

  • Sets up RViz with correct namespace and topic remappings

  • Loads pre-configured RViz layout from ad_r1m_base/rviz/main.rviz

  • Enables interactive tools (2D Pose Estimate, 2D Nav Goal)

Manual RViz Launch

For custom configurations:

# Set environment (replace IP)
export RMW_IMPLEMENTATION=rmw_zenoh_cpp
export ROBOT_IP=192.168.1.100
export ZENOH_CONFIG_OVERRIDE='connect/endpoints=["tcp/${ROBOT_IP}:7447"];mode="client"'

# Launch RViz
ros2 run rviz2 rviz2

Then add displays manually:

  • RobotModel: Set to /robot_description

  • TF: Enable to see transform tree

  • LaserScan: Set topic to /cam1/scan

  • Map: Set topic to /map (when mapping or navigating)

Tips and Best Practices

Multi-Robot Setup

When working with multiple robots, each robot uses a namespace (e.g., ad_r1m_0, ad_r1m_1):

# View topics for specific robot
ros2 topic list | grep ad_r1m_0

# Echo namespaced topic
ros2 topic echo /ad_r1m_0/imu

# Start RViz for robot 1
./start_rviz.sh 1

Useful ROS 2 Commands

# List all nodes
ros2 node list

# Get info about a node
ros2 node info /motors/controller_manager

# List topics with types
ros2 topic list -t

# Record topics to bag file
ros2 bag record /imu /odom /cam1/scan -o sensor_data

# Play back recorded data
ros2 bag play sensor_data

# View TF tree (generates PDF)
ros2 run tf2_tools view_frames

Debugging Communication

If topics are not visible:

  1. Check Zenoh router is running on robot:

    ssh analog@ad-r1m-0.local
docker compose ps | grep zenoh

  2. Verify network connectivity:

    ping ad-r1m-0.local

  3. Check RMW configuration:

    echo $RMW_IMPLEMENTATION
echo $ZENOH_CONFIG_OVERRIDE

  4. Try direct IP instead of hostname:

    export ROBOT_IP=192.168.1.100  # Use actual IP

For more troubleshooting, see AD-R1M Troubleshooting.

Common Environment Setup

Add to your ~/.bashrc for convenience:

# ROS 2 setup
source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash

# Function to connect to AD-R1M robot
connect_robot() {
    local robot_num=${1:-0}
    export RMW_IMPLEMENTATION=rmw_zenoh_cpp
    export ROBOT_IP="ad-r1m-${robot_num}.local"
    export ZENOH_CONFIG_OVERRIDE='connect/endpoints=["tcp/${ROBOT_IP}:7447"];mode="client"'
    echo "Connected to ad-r1m-${robot_num}"
}

Usage:

connect_robot 0    # Connect to ad-r1m-0
ros2 topic list    # View robot topics