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Can i use Float32 messages with the talker example in ROS2 ?

asked 2018-05-16 14:28:57 -0500

aks gravatar image

updated 2018-05-17 08:35:37 -0500

Instead of the normal std_msgs::string, i want to use std_msgs::Float32 in the demo_nodes_cpp talker example.

is it possible to directly replace string with float32 as both belong to std_msgs or do i need to create a new custom message definition ?

I want to do something like this :

class Talker : public rclcpp::Node
   {
   public:
   explicit Talker(const std::string & topic_name)
   : Node("talker")
   {
   msg_ = std::make_shared<std_msgs::msg::Float32>();
  // Create a function for when messages are to be sent.
  auto publish_message =
  [this]() -> void
  {
count_++;
if (count_ <= 50){
    msg_->data = 100;}

if (count_ > 50)
{
    msg_->data = 0;}
    RCLCPP_INFO(this->get_logger(), "Publishing: '%f'", msg_->data)

    // Put the message into a queue to be processed by the middleware.
    // This call is non-blocking.
    pub_->publish(msg_);
  };

Is this possible ?

This is the actual code:

#include <chrono>
#include <cstdio>
#include <memory>
#include <string>


#include "rclcpp/rclcpp.hpp"
#include "rcutils/cmdline_parser.h"

#include "std_msgs/msg/string.hpp"
#include "std_msgs/msg/float32.hpp"

using namespace std::chrono_literals;

void print_usage()
{
  printf("Usage for talker app:\n");
  printf("talker [-t topic_name] [-h]\n");
  printf("options:\n");
  printf("-h : Print this help function.\n");
  printf("-t topic_name : Specify the topic on which to publish. Defaults to chatter.\n");
}

// Create a Talker class that subclasses the generic rclcpp::Node base class.
// The main function below will instantiate the class as a ROS node.
class Source : public rclcpp::Node
{
public:
  explicit Source(const std::string & topic_name)
  : Node("source")
  {
    heatflow_source = std::make_shared<std_msgs::msg::Float32>();

    // Create a function for when messages are to be sent.
    auto publish_message =
      [this]() -> void
      {
    count_++;
    if (count_ <= 50){
        heatflow_source->data = 100;}

    if (count_ > 50)
    {
        heatflow_source->data = 0.0;}
        RCLCPP_INFO(this->get_logger(), "Publishing: '%f'", heatflow_source->data)

        // Put the message into a queue to be processed by the middleware.
        // This call is non-blocking.
        pub_->publish(heatflow_source);
      };

    // Create a publisher with a custom Quality of Service profile.
    rmw_qos_profile_t custom_qos_profile = rmw_qos_profile_default;
    custom_qos_profile.depth = 7;
    pub_ = this->create_publisher<std_msgs::msg::Float32>(topic_name, custom_qos_profile); //edited

    // Use a timer to schedule periodic message publishing.
    timer_ = this->create_wall_timer(1s, publish_message);
  }

private:
  size_t count_ = 1;
  std::shared_ptr<std_msgs::msg::Float32> heatflow_source;
  rclcpp::Publisher<std_msgs::msg::Float32>::SharedPtr pub_;
  rclcpp::TimerBase::SharedPtr timer_;
};

int main(int argc, char * argv[])
{
  // Force flush of the stdout buffer.
  // This ensures a correct sync of all prints
  // even when executed simultaneously within the launch file.
  setvbuf(stdout, NULL, _IONBF, BUFSIZ);

  if (rcutils_cli_option_exist(argv, argv + argc, "-h")) {
    print_usage();
    return 0;
  }

  // Initialize any global resources needed by the middleware and the client library.
  // You must call this before using any other part of the ROS system.
  // This should be called once per process.
  rclcpp::init(argc, argv);

  // Parse the command line options.
  auto topic = std::string("heatflow_source");
  if (rcutils_cli_option_exist(argv, argv + argc, "-t")) {
    topic = std::string(rcutils_cli_get_option(argv, argv + argc, "-t"));
  }

  // Create a node.
  auto node = std::make_shared<Source>(topic);

  // spin will block until work comes in, execute work as it becomes available, and keep blocking.
  // It will only be interrupted by Ctrl-C.
  rclcpp::spin(node);

  rclcpp::shutdown();
  return 0;
}

I still get an ... (more)

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Comments

I'm going to say: yes.

gvdhoorn gravatar image gvdhoorn  ( 2018-05-17 02:20:14 -0500 )edit

ok...it gives me this error in this case : error: ambiguous overload for ‘operator=’ (operand types are ‘std_msgs::msg::String_<std::allocator<void> >::_data_type {aka std::__cxx11::basic_string<char>}’ and ‘int’) msg_->data = 0;}

aks gravatar image aks  ( 2018-05-17 02:49:40 -0500 )edit

I'm confused by the mention of std_msgs::msg::String in the error message. Did you update the type of the msg_ member variable as well? You'll have to make sure to make these changes consistently, or things won't work.

gvdhoorn gravatar image gvdhoorn  ( 2018-05-17 02:58:33 -0500 )edit

sorry ! yes now i did...with another error message error: ‘Float32’ is not a member of ‘std_msgs::msg’ std::shared_ptr<std_msgs::msg::Float32> msg_; Do i need to declare some special header file ?

aks gravatar image aks  ( 2018-05-17 03:12:25 -0500 )edit

Each message generates its own set of headers. Replacing #include "std_msgs/msg/string.hpp" by #include "std_msgs/msg/float32.hpp" should do the job

marguedas gravatar image marguedas  ( 2018-05-17 03:20:13 -0500 )edit

@marguedas: yes this would be an alternative but for this then i need to create another msg definition and build it to use #include "std_msgs/msg/float32.hpp" What i meant was since, float32 also belongs to the std_msgs class, shouldnt it be directly possible ?

aks gravatar image aks  ( 2018-05-17 03:22:48 -0500 )edit

No, you don't. std_msgs already contains a msg for Float32, so you can just reuse that.

What i meant was since, float32 also belongs to the std_msgs class, shouldnt it be directly possible ?

yes, but you need to include the header. How else is the compiler going to know what you are using?

gvdhoorn gravatar image gvdhoorn  ( 2018-05-17 03:41:00 -0500 )edit

What i meant was since, float32 also belongs to the std_msgs class, shouldnt it be directly possible ?

Yes the Float32 message class is already provided by the std_msgs package. So you can use it without creating a new msg definition. To use it you need to include std_msgs/msg/float32.hpp

marguedas gravatar image marguedas  ( 2018-05-17 04:01:22 -0500 )edit

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answered 2018-07-04 10:55:08 -0500

aks gravatar image

Yes, float32 messages could be used instead of string.

Just include the std_msgs/msg/float32.hpp and also keep in mind to update the type of the member variable msg_

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Asked: 2018-05-16 14:28:57 -0500

Seen: 2,164 times

Last updated: Jul 04 '18