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Getting Started

RoboStack is a bundling of ROS for Linux, macOS and Windows using the Conda package manager, based on top of conda-forge. We have also extended support to the Pixi package manager, which builds upon the foundations of, and maintains compatability with the Conda ecosystem. Here is a comparison of how Pixi works when compared to Conda/Mamba.

You can install Robostack using either Micromamba or Pixi. We recommend using Pixi for any new installations. Note that the instructions for Conda and Micromamba are virtually identical apart from the installation.

Install Micromamba

"${SHELL}" <(curl -L micro.mamba.pm/install.sh)

For details, see the official Micromamba Installation instructions.

By default, the installer will set up conda-forge, the prefix location at ~/micromamba, and initialise shell variables in your ~/.bashrc. To undo the changes to your ~/.bashrc, run: 

micromamba shell deinit

Once installed, you can update micromamba with: 

micromamba self-update

Do not install ROS packages in the base environment

Make sure to not install the ROS packages in your base environment as this leads to issues down the track. On the other hand, conda and mamba must not be installed in the ros_env, they should only be installed in base.

Do not source the system ROS environment

When there is an installation available of ROS on the system, in non-conda environments, there will be interference with the environments as the PYTHONPATH set in the setup script conflicts with the conda environment.

Installing ROS

Note

There are different channels depending on the version of ROS that you wish to install, to add these channels and install your desired version, you can run the following:

# Create a ros-noetic desktop environment
micromamba create -n ros_env -c conda-forge -c robostack-noetic ros-noetic-desktop

# Create a ros-humble desktop environment
micromamba create -n ros_env -c conda-forge -c robostack-humble ros-humble-desktop

# Create a ros-jazzy desktop environment
micromamba create -n ros_env -c conda-forge -c robostack-jazzy ros-jazzy-desktop

# Create a ros-kilted desktop environment
micromamba create -n ros_env -c conda-forge -c robostack-kilted ros-kilted-desktop

# Activate the environment
micromamba activate ros_env

Installing tools for local development

Default tools to help with local development of ROS packages
micromamba activate ros_env
micromamba install -c conda-forge compilers cmake pkg-config make ninja colcon-common-extensions catkin_tools rosdep

Developing on Windows

Install conda

To get started, you'll need a base conda installation. We recommend using the Miniforge installer.

On Debian- and RPM-based distributions, you can also use the Debian and RPM repository for miniconda. To source the base environment: 

source /opt/conda/etc/profile.d/conda.sh

Avoid using the defaults channel

The packages from the defaults channel (https://www.anaconda.com), set up by Anaconda and Miniconda, are subject to the Anaconda Terms of Service. See Conda Package Repository and Channels for details.

To avoid accidental violation of the Anaconda ToS, remove the defaults channel: 

conda config --env --remove channels defaults

Do not install ROS packages in the base environment

Make sure to not install the ROS packages in your base environment as this leads to issues down the track. On the other hand, conda and mamba must not be installed in the ros_env, they should only be installed in base.

Do not source the system ROS environment

When there is an installation available of ROS on the system, in non-conda environments, there will be interference with the environments as the PYTHONPATH set in the setup script conflicts with the conda environment.

Installing ROS

Note

There are different channels depending on the version of ROS that you wish to install, to add these channels and install your desired version, you can run the following:

# Create a ros-noetic desktop environment
conda create -n ros_env -c conda-forge -c robostack-noetic ros-noetic-desktop

# Create a ros-humble desktop environment
conda create -n ros_env -c conda-forge -c robostack-humble ros-humble-desktop

# Create a ros-jazzy desktop environment
conda create -n ros_env -c conda-forge -c robostack-jazzy ros-jazzy-desktop

# Create a ros-kilted desktop environment
conda create -n ros_env -c conda-forge -c robostack-kilted ros-kilted-desktop

# Activate the environment
conda activate ros_env

Installing tools for local development

Default tools to help with local development of ROS packages
conda activate ros_env
conda install -c conda-forge compilers cmake pkg-config make ninja colcon-common-extensions catkin_tools rosdep

Developing on Windows

Install Pixi

To install pixi you can run the following command in your terminal:

curl -fsSL https://pixi.sh/install.sh | bash

The above invocation will automatically download the latest version of pixi, extract it, and move the pixi binary to ~/.pixi/bin. If this directory does not already exist, the script will create it.

The script will also update your ~/.bashrc to include ~/.pixi/bin in your PATH, allowing you to invoke the pixi command from anywhere.

winget install prefix-dev.pixi

The above invocation will automatically download the latest version of pixi, extract it, and move the pixi binary to LocalAppData/pixi/bin. If this directory does not already exist, the script will create it.

The command will also automatically add LocalAppData/pixi/bin to your path allowing you to invoke pixi from anywhere.

Prerequisites

Note

After installation, you may need to restart your terminal for the pixi command to be available.

Do not source the system ROS environment

When there is an installation available of ROS on the system, in non-conda environments, there will be interference with the environments as the PYTHONPATH set in the setup script conflicts with the conda environment.

Install RoboStack using Pixi

Initialize a new project and navigate to the project directory. 

pixi init robostack
cd robostack

Open the newly created pixi.toml in your favourite text editor and paste the below configuration into the file (overwriting the configuration created by pixi init):

pixi.toml
[project]
name = "robostack"
description = "Development environment for RoboStack ROS packages"
channels = ["https://prefix.dev/conda-forge"]
platforms = ["linux-64", "win-64", "osx-64", "osx-arm64", "linux-aarch64"]

# This will automatically activate the ros workspace on activation
[target.win.activation]
scripts = ["install/setup.bat"]

[target.unix.activation]
# For activation scripts, we use bash for Unix-like systems
scripts = ["install/setup.bash"]

# To build you can use - `pixi run -e <ros distro> build <Any other temporary args>`
[feature.build.target.win-64.tasks]
build = "colcon build --merge-install --cmake-args -DCMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS=ON -DPython_FIND_VIRTUALENV=ONLY -DPython3_FIND_VIRTUALENV=ONLY"

[feature.build.target.unix.tasks]
build = "colcon build --symlink-install --cmake-args -DCMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS=ON -DPython_FIND_VIRTUALENV=ONLY -DPython3_FIND_VIRTUALENV=ONLY"

# Dependencies used by all environments
[dependencies]
python = "*"
# Build tools
compilers = "*"
cmake = "*"
pkg-config = "*"
make = "*"
ninja = "*"
# ROS specific tools
rosdep = "*"
colcon-common-extensions = "*"

[target.linux.dependencies]
libgl-devel = "*"

# Define all the different ROS environments
# Each environment corresponds to a different ROS distribution
# and can be activated using the `pixi run/shell -e <environment>` command.
[environments]
noetic = { features = ["noetic", "build"] }
humble = { features = ["humble", "build"] }
jazzy = { features = ["jazzy", "build"] }
kilted = { features = ["kilted", "build"] }

### ROS Noetic ####
[feature.noetic]
channels = ["https://prefix.dev/robostack-noetic"]

[feature.noetic.dependencies]
ros-noetic-desktop = "*"
catkin_tools = "*"

### ROS Humble ####
[feature.humble]
channels = ["https://prefix.dev/robostack-humble"]

[feature.humble.dependencies]
ros-humble-desktop = "*"

### ROS Jazzy ####
[feature.jazzy]
channels = ["https://prefix.dev/robostack-jazzy"]

[feature.jazzy.dependencies]
ros-jazzy-desktop = "*"

### ROS Kilted ####
[feature.kilted]
channels = ["https://prefix.dev/robostack-kilted"]

[feature.kilted.dependencies]
ros-kilted-desktop = "*"


# Save and exit pixi.toml
pixi install
# You can now start an environment with your desired robostack distribution using one of the below commands (either executed from within the project directory or by appending `--manifest-path` and pointing to your project directory):

# ROS noetic
pixi shell -e noetic

# ROS humble
pixi shell -e humble

# ROS jazzy
pixi shell -e jazzy

# ROS kilted
pixi shell -e kilted

Testing installation

After installation, you should test if you are able to run rviz/rviz2 and other ROS tools.

Reminder

The ROS environment activation is included automatically. There is no need to add a source command in the ~/.bashrc

ROS 1

First terminal
micromamba activate ros_env
roscore

Second terminal
micromamba activate ros_env
rviz

ROS 2

Note

ROS 2 has the benefit of not needing a roscore, so only a single terminal is needed to run a tool.

Terminal
micromamba activate ros_env
rviz2

If you run into any issues or for any frequently asked questions, you can check the FAQ page

Updating

Updating all packages in your environment is as easy as:

micromamba update --all

Deactivating

The (de)activation of the ros workspace goes in together with the conda environment. So running the corresponding (de)activation command will also (un)source the ros environment.

micromamba deactivate

ROS 1

First terminal
conda activate ros_env
roscore

Second terminal
conda activate ros_env
rviz

ROS 2

Note

ROS 2 has the benefit of not needing a roscore, so only a single terminal is needed to run a tool.

Terminal
conda activate ros_env
rviz2

If you run into any issues or for any frequently asked questions, you can check the FAQ page

Updating

Updating all packages in your environment is as easy as:

conda update --all

Deactivating

The (de)activation of the ros workspace goes in together with the conda environment. So running the corresponding (de)activation command will also (un)source the ros environment.

conda deactivate

Note

Remember if trying to activate the pixi from outside the project directory, provide the path to the pixi.toml with --manifest-path.

ROS 1

First terminal
cd robostack
pixi run -e noetic roscore
alternatively,
First terminal
cd robostack
pixi shell -e noetic
roscore

Second terminal
cd robostack
pixi run -e noetic rviz
alternatively,
Second terminal
cd robostack
pixi shell -e noetic
rviz

ROS 2

Terminal
cd robostack
pixi run -e humble rviz2 # OR jazzy, kilted
alternatively,
Terminal
cd robostack
pixi shell -e humble  # OR jazzy, kilted
rviz2

If you run into any issues or for any frequently asked questions, you can check the FAQ page

Updating

Updating all packages in your environment is as easy as:

cd robostack
pixi update

Deactivating

You can just exit the current shell to deactivate the current environment. 

exit  # or press Ctrl+D

Why ROS and Conda?

We tightly couple ROS with Conda, a cross-platform, language-agnostic package manager. We provide ROS binaries for Linux, macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon), Windows and ARM (Linux). Installing other recent packages via conda-forge side-by-side works easily, e.g. you can install TensorFlow/PyTorch in the same environment as ROS Noetic without any issues. As no system libraries are used, you can also easily install ROS Noetic on any recent Linux Distribution - including older versions of Ubuntu. As the packages are pre-built, it saves you from compiling from source, which is especially helpful on macOS and Windows. No root access is required, all packages live in your home directory. We have recently written up a paper and blog post with more information.

Attribution

If you use RoboStack in your academic work, please reference the following paper: 

@article{FischerRAM2021,
    title={A RoboStack Tutorial: Using the Robot Operating System Alongside the Conda and Jupyter Data Science Ecosystems},
    author={Tobias Fischer and Wolf Vollprecht and Silvio Traversaro and Sean Yen and Carlos Herrero and Michael Milford},
    journal={IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine},
    year={2021},
    doi={10.1109/MRA.2021.3128367},
}