Introduction

• ROS 2 Humble is a versatile and popular distribution of the Robot Operating System, designed to facilitate efficient robotics development.

• This guide will help you install ROS 2 Humble and create a workspace (ros2_ws) tailored for development.

Prerequisites

• Operating System: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or later.

• Dependencies:

  • Python 3.8 or later.

  • CMake 3.10 or later.

  • An active Internet connection for package downloads.

1. Update Your System

First, ensure your system is updated with the latest packages.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

2. Install Necessary Prerequisites

Install the required dependencies and tools for adding the ROS repository.

sudo apt install -y curl lsb-release apt-transport-https ca-certificates software-properties-common

3. Add the ROS 2 GPG Key

Download the GPG key for the ROS 2 repository and save it securely.

sudo curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ros/rosdistro/master/ros.asc | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/ros-archive-keyring.gpg

Note: If the key file already exists, you will be prompted to overwrite it. Type Y to confirm and proceed.

File '/usr/share/keyrings/ros-archive-keyring.gpg' exists. Overwrite? (y/N) Y

Verify that the key file was saved correctly:

ls -l /usr/share/keyrings/ros-archive-keyring.gpg

The output should show the file, for example:

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1167 12月 23 17:48 /usr/share/keyrings/ros-archive-keyring.gpg

4. Add the ROS 2 Repository

Add the ROS 2 repository to your system's package sources:

echo "deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/ros-archive-keyring.gpg] http://packages.ros.org/ros2/ubuntu $(lsb_release -cs) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ros2-latest.list

5. Verify the ROS 2 Repository Configuration

Check the ROS 2 repository configuration to ensure it points to the correct location.

cat /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ros2-latest.list

The output should look like this:

deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/ros-archive-keyring.gpg] http://packages.ros.org/ros2/ubuntu jammy main

6. Update Package Lists

Update the package lists to include the ROS 2 repository.

sudo apt update

7. Install ROS 2

You have two main options for installing ROS 2:

Option 1: Full Desktop Install

This includes the full ROS 2 development environment with Rviz, demos, and tools.

sudo apt install ros-humble-desktop

Option 2: Base Install

This is a minimal installation without GUI tools.

sudo apt install ros-humble-ros-base

8. Source ROS 2 Setup Script

Add the ROS 2 setup script to your shell configuration file to make ROS 2 commands available globally.

For Bash users:

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

source ~/.bashrc

For Zsh users:

echo "source /opt/ros/humble/setup.zsh" >> ~/.zshrc 

source ~/.zshrc

9. Verify ROS 2 Installation

Check that ROS 2 is installed correctly by running:

ros2 --version

You should see the ROS 2 version output, such as:

humble 2.6.0

Otherwise confirm

• To confirm ROS 2 Humble is installed:
  ros2 --help
  This should display a list of available ROS 2 commands. If this works, your installation is likely correct.

Verify the ROS Distribution

• You can check the active ROS distribution by inspecting the ROS_DISTRO environment variable:
  echo $ROS_DISTRO
  It should output:
  humble

10. (Optional) Install ROS 2 Build Tools

If you plan to develop or build ROS 2 packages from source, install additional tools:

sudo apt install python3-colcon-common-extensions python3-rosdep

Initialize rosdep

rosdep is used to install system dependencies for ROS packages.

sudo rosdep init 

rosdep update

11: Create a Workspace

Create a workspace named ros2_ws:

mkdir -p ~/ros2_ws/src 

cd ~/ros2_ws 

colcon build

12: Initialize and Build the Workspace

In the ~/ros2_ws directory:

colcon build 

source install/setup.bash

13: Add the ROS 2 Workspace to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc

Make the workspace available in every terminal session:

echo "source ~/ros2_ws/install/setup.bash" >> ~/.bashrc 

source ~/.bashrc

Uninstallation (if needed)

If you need to remove ROS 2:

sudo apt remove --purge ros-humble-*

sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ros2-latest.list

sudo apt autoremove -y

sudo apt clean

Document Overview:

• Introduction: Overview of ROS 2 Humble and setting up the development environment.

• System Prerequisites: Necessary system configurations and dependencies.

• Installation Steps: Step-by-step guide to installing ROS 2 Humble.

• Setting Up the Workspace: Instructions for creating and setting up a development workspace.

• Verifying the Installation: Methods to confirm a successful ROS 2 Humble installation.

• Create and build space : Create and build an workspace for future works.

References:

• ROS 2 Humble Documentation – Official documentation for ROS 2 Humble, including additional installation guides, tutorials, and detailed information on the ROS 2 ecosystem.