Package Frustration

1.indigo2.node3.package

asked 2017-12-31 13:01:03 -0500

finch1
9 ●4 ●5 ●7

updated 2017-12-31 16:17:16 -0500

jayess
6155 ●26 ●85 ●92

Hi people, I’ve been trying to run my own packages for two weeks now yet still not even close. I have: Followed ROS tutorials 10 times Tried book examples, YouTube video examples… Tried tutorials for Eclipse(not straight forward to set up), of course got stuck with CMake and commands Note: information is scattered and most of them don’t match, as in, different methods for the same thing, this is making it super confusing. And still don’t have a clue. Would some one kindly point to a complete tutorial explaining how to create package, write node, build package and run on terminal and with Eclipse too? I can’t figure how you make this system look easy, but would appreciate if you can share your knowledge please. Thanks. Happy Holidays

Hi Jayess ROS install: OK, turtlesim: OK, newcatkin pkg: OK, modify CMake + manifest: copy & paste but not sure what's going on, wrote talker.cpp + listner.cpp: OK, build with errors. Moved on to eclipse, loaded from catkin workspace, Eclipse doesn't recognise it as project and can't find #includes.

The official tutorial jumpes from catkin_ws to ROS and not sure which steps go where.

Tried all beginner youtube tutorials with no luck. Tried various books like Mastering ROS and Gentle Intro to ROS.

ROS tutorials on Eclipse IDE: stuck on commands too.

Basically I'm a train reck with Linux commands, compilers and CMake. I'm not going to give up though, and do need some one to kindly explain at least steps to build a custom package. How to build workspace with new cpp files?

Links:

http://wiki.ros.org/IDEs#Creating_the... - make eclipse-project command does not work
http://linuxpitstop.com/install-eclip... - worked ok
http://cs460.coins-lab.org/index.php?... - needs login to view picture
http://wiki.ros.org/catkin/Tutorials/... - manifext mod + dependencies = can't understand
http://wiki.ros.org/catkin/Tutorials/... - commands are confusing
http://catkin-tools.readthedocs.io/en... - different commands from ROS tutorial
http://wiki.ros.org/ROS/Tutorials/Wri... - commands at end are confusing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bUkL...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOPwC...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjbBG...

Books:

Mastering ROS for Robotics Programming
A gentle introduction to ROS

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Comments

What exactly have you tried? You say that you've used videos, books, and other sources but don't mention specifically any sources nor do you mention what problems you've had. What's wrong with the official tutorials? Many people use them to get started.

jayess ( 2017-12-31 14:27:20 -0500 )edit

Hi Jayess, sorry about my mistake, wasn't sure how to reply to a comment. Can't see the reply button anywhere...

finch1 ( 2017-12-31 15:24:01 -0500 )edit

You can click the "edit" button to add more information to a question. What you can do is take your "answer" and update your question with that information and delete your "answer"

jayess ( 2017-12-31 15:29:09 -0500 )edit

Also, please include links to any tutorials that you are referring to.

jayess ( 2017-12-31 15:30:46 -0500 )edit

commands are confusing

is vague. What specifically is confusing?

jayess ( 2017-12-31 16:14:55 -0500 )edit

Well, confusing as in I'm not sure what some mean and what they're for. I will try again from the beginning and document the whole process.

finch1 ( 2017-12-31 16:20:32 -0500 )edit

Again, please be specific. What commands and what's confusing about them?

jayess ( 2017-12-31 16:29:35 -0500 )edit

Hi Jayess, yes I shall do that. I'll try again and note which bit I'm getting stuck with.

finch1 ( 2018-01-01 02:31:53 -0500 )edit

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Hi pk, actually I went through that tutorial multiple times. yesterday I managed to build an example package and run it too, gladly seeing the expected output. As gvdhoorn noted I must get familiar with the system first. Now I'm trying to figure out CMake commands. Ex. 'find_package', have no idea

finch1 ( 2018-01-02 12:14:30 -0500 )edit

packages its talking about. So I'm kinda discovering new things bit by bit, it gets hard though when an enigma machine is required to decipher descriptions.... you know, most time description is complicated in itself. Its not the case to surrender though!

finch1 ( 2018-01-02 12:18:11 -0500 )edit

Thanks for the instructions pk. I'm only familiar with catkin_make for now and never came across catkin build my_package

finch1 ( 2018-01-02 12:20:01 -0500 )edit

what makes me wonder is that it looks like the ROS documentaion expects a certain level of experience and I'm struggling to find beginner tutorials that can take me up to this level. So I wonder how you guys make it happen.?

finch1 ( 2018-01-02 12:49:07 -0500 )edit

@finch1: same way you eat an elephant: one bite at a time. Just take your time and learn as you go. Be persistent and don't give up. If you feel that the language (C++) is holding you back maybe you can give Python a try instead?

jayess ( 2018-01-04 01:23:41 -0500 )edit

Hi Jayess, I'm ok with the programming bit, c++ is great. It's tools like cmake and comand line instructions that halt me down. did some work though and am feeling more confident now

finch1 ( 2018-01-04 02:08:16 -0500 )edit

C++ is great language, but with the build tools involved it can get in the way of learning if you're learning the language, ROS, and Linux at the same time. Python has an easy syntax and doesn't need to be compiled (so no build tools, generally).

jayess ( 2018-01-04 03:20:40 -0500 )edit

Hi, I feel more confident with CMake and linux after spending time practising. So I tried again, these steps: http://wiki.ros.org/catkin/Tutorials/...http://wiki.ros.org/catkin/Tutorials/...http://wiki.ros.org/ROS/Tutorials/Wri...

finch1 ( 2018-01-04 11:40:59 -0500 )edit

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