ROS (Robot Operating System) is an open-source framework for building robot software. It is not actually an operating system, but rather a flexible middleware that provides tools, libraries, and conventions to simplify the development of complex and distributed robotic systems.
Key features of ROS include:
- Modular Design – It organizes software into packages and nodes, making code reusable and easy to maintain.
- Communication Infrastructure – ROS uses a publisher/subscriber model for message passing and a service/action system for request/response interactions between nodes.
- Simulation and Visualization – Tools like RViz and Gazebo allow developers to visualize sensor data and simulate robots in a virtual environment.
- Hardware Abstraction – ROS provides drivers for many sensors and actuators, making it easier to integrate real-world hardwar
This tutorial will show you how to install the development environment for ROS1 and ROS2 on reComputer.
**Note:**Please select different ROS versions based on the version of Ubuntu in your system.
| JetPack Version | Ubuntu Version | Recommended ROS Version | Use Case |
|---|
| JetPack 5.x | Ubuntu 20.04 | ROS1 Noetic ✅ ROS2 Foxy ✅ | Best choice for projects needing ROS1/ROS2 hybrid development, long-term support, and stable ecosystem. |
|---|
| JetPack 6.x | Ubuntu 22.04 | ROS2 Humble ✅ | Ideal for new projects, long-term maintenance, and leveraging Jetson Orin / newer hardware features. ROS1 not officially available (use Docker or build from source if needed). |
|---|
ROS1 (Robot Operating System 1) is an open-source framework for building robot software. It uses a central master (roscore) and a node-based architecture, where nodes communicate via topics, services, and actions. ROS1 provides tools for visualization, simulation, and data logging, and is widely used in robotics research and prototyping.
**Step 1. **Setup your computer to accept software from packages.ros.org.
sudo sh -c '. /etc/lsb-release && echo "deb http://mirrors.ustc.edu.cn/ros/ubuntu/ `lsb_release -cs` main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ros-latest.list'Note:Please setting up your sources.list file based on the region where you are located.Follow by this artical
Step 2. Set up your keys.
sudo apt install curl gnupg2 lsb-release -y # if you haven't already installed curl
curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ros/rosdistro/master/ros.asc | sudo apt-key add -
Step 3. Installation.
sudo apt update
sudo apt install ros-noetic-desktop-full
sudo apt-get install python3-rosdep
sudo rosdep init
rosdep updateStep 4. Set Up ROS Environment.
echo "source /opt/ros/noetic/setup.bash">> ~/.bashrc &&
source ~/.bashrcStep 5. Install Dependency Tools.
sudo apt install python3-rosinstall python3-rosinstall-generator python3-wstool build-essentialStep 6. Test the Installation.
roscore
More details you can refer to here
ROS2 (Robot Operating System 2) is the second generation of the open-source robotics framework, designed to overcome the limitations of ROS1. It is built on top of DDS (Data Distribution Service) for reliable, real-time, and secure communication. ROS2 supports multi-robot systems, works on multiple platforms (Linux, Windows, macOS), and offers improved performance, security, and scalability compared to ROS1.
Step 1. 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 settingsStep 2. You will need to add the ROS 2 apt repository to your system.
sudo apt install software-properties-common
sudo add-apt-repository universeStep 3. Add the official ROS2 apt repository to your Ubuntu system.
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 $VERSION_CODENAME)_all.deb" # If using Ubuntu derivates use $UBUNTU_CODENAME
sudo dpkg -i /tmp/ros2-apt-source.debStep 4. Install ROS 2 packages.
sudo apt update
sudo apt install ros-humble-desktop
Step 5. Install Additional Build Tools.
sudo apt install ros-dev-toolsStep 6. Initialize ROS Environment.
sudo rosdep init
rosdep updateStep 7. Set Up ROS Environment Variables.
echo "source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash" >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrcStep 8. Try some examples to verify the installation.
In one terminal, source the setup file and then run a C++ talker:
source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash
ros2 run demo_nodes_cpp talker In another terminal source the setup file and then run a Python listener:
source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash
ros2 run demo_nodes_py listener
Now, congratulations! 🎉You have successfully installed ROS2. You can now embark on a pleasant development journey.
More details you can refer to here
Related demo: