Why is sensor_msgs/Temperature in degrees Celsius and not Kelvins?
REP 103 tells that wherever possible and not really impractical, base SI units should be used. But in the sensor_msgs/Temperature message, the comment says it is in degrees Celsius.
I understand that most cases in robotics are related to the "normal" operating conditions where Celsius degrees describe the measurement pretty well and are a kind of standard in the field. But I'd expect that if this basic type of message makes an exception to REP 103, there should be a detailed justification for making this exception. I haven't found any info regarding this.
Does anyone know what line of thought led to Celsius degrees winning over Kelvins?
I was not present when this was designed/decided, but I assume it's because Celsius is much easier to use / reason about for humans/mortals (similar to RPY being used in places in ROS, instead of quaternions everywhere), many sensors directly report in Celsius (less conversions needed) and it's at least better than Fahrenheit.
@gvdhoorn do you want to turn your comment into an answer?
well it's not really the answer, is it? Just speculation on my side.