Robot Operating System 2 (ROS 2)

Lab 3: Understanding ROS 2 Services

Haitham El-Hussieny, PhD

July 30, 2023
Department of Mechatronics and Robotics Engineering
Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology (E-JUST)
Alexandria, Egypt.
Basics of ROS Services Create Custom ROS 2 Services.

O UTLINE

1. Basics of ROS Services

2. Create Custom ROS 2 Services.

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Basics of ROS Services
Basics of ROS Services Create Custom ROS 2 Services.

P UBLISHER /S UBSCRIBER C OMMUNICATION

ROS 2 topics are unidirectional and allow communication of 1:N, N:1 or N:N.

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Basics of ROS Services Create Custom ROS 2 Services.

ROS S ERVICES C OMMUNICATION

ROS services allow for bidirectional communications between a server and client.
Blocked client: The client is waiting for the response from server.
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Basics of ROS Services Create Custom ROS 2 Services.

ROS S ERVICES

ROS Services consist of:

ROS Server.
ROS Client.

When to use ROS services?

When asking a robot to do a task
and waiting for a feedback.
Examples: A client sends a request and the server responds
Find a path from A to B. with a response (Synchronous communication).
Open the door. We could have many clients, but only one server.
Recognize a cat. 4
Basics of ROS Services Create Custom ROS 2 Services.

ROS S ERVICES

Communication over topics vs. communication over services.

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Basics of ROS Services Create Custom ROS 2 Services.

ROS S ERVICES WITH T URTLESIM

1. Open new terminal and run

$ ros2 run turtlesim turtlesim node

2. Return all running services

$ ros2 service list

Note: Any service with parameter in its name is out of the scope of this tutorial.
let’s focus on the turtlesim-specific services: /clear, /kill, /reset, /spawn,
/turtle1/set pen, /turtle1/teleport absolute, and
/turtle1/teleport relative 6
Basics of ROS Services Create Custom ROS 2 Services.

ROS S ERVICES WITH T URTLESIM

Get service type

$ ros2 service type /clear
std srvs/srv/Empty
The service requests no data and receives no data when receiving a response.

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Basics of ROS Services Create Custom ROS 2 Services.

ROS S ERVICES WITH T URTLESIM

Get service type

$ ros2 service type /clear
std srvs/srv/Empty
The service requests no data and receives no data when receiving a response.
Get service type for /spawn
$ ros2 service type /spawn #To create a new turtle

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Basics of ROS Services Create Custom ROS 2 Services.

ROS S ERVICES WITH T URTLESIM

Get service type

$ ros2 service type /clear
std srvs/srv/Empty
The service requests no data and receives no data when receiving a response.
Get service type for /spawn
$ ros2 service type /spawn #To create a new turtle
To know the structure of the service
$ ros2 interface show turtlesim/srv/Spawn
float32 x x positon of the turtle
float32 y y positon of the turtle
float32 theta orientation of the turtle
string name set name for the turtle
--- The three dashes seperate request from response
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string name returned name for the turtle
Basics of ROS Services Create Custom ROS 2 Services.

ROS S ERVICES WITH T URTLESIM

Calling a service
ros2 service call <service name> <service type> <arguments>

$ ros2 service call /spawn turtlesim/srv/Spawn "x: 2, y: 2,

theta: 0.2, name: ’Ferial’"

A client asks the /spawn to insert a new

turtle at location (2, 2) and orientation of 0.2
rad with the name ’Ferial’. The server replies
with name of the new turtle.

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Basics of ROS Services Create Custom ROS 2 Services.

ROS S ERVICES WITH T URTLESIM

Calling services with rqt

Run rqt and add Service Caller plugin.

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Create Custom ROS 2 Services.
Basics of ROS Services Create Custom ROS 2 Services.

C REATE C USTOM ROS 2 S ERVICES .

To create a client/server ROS

service:
1. Define the service message
(service *.srv file).
2. Create the ROS server node.
3. Create the ROS client node.
4. Execute the service server.
5. Call the server by the client.

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Basics of ROS Services Create Custom ROS 2 Services.

C REATE C USTOM ROS 2 S ERVICES .

Creat a service to add two integers and return the sum.

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Basics of ROS Services Create Custom ROS 2 Services.

S TEP 1: D EFINE THE SERVICE MESSAGE ( SERVICE *. SRV FILE ).

Create a new ROS 2 package with cmake build option to define our service file.
$ ros2 pkg create --build-type ament cmake my own srv
note: ROS 2 services cannot be created with pure python packages, i.e.
ament python.
Navigate inside the newly created package and create a new folder named srv
$ mkdir srv
Inside the srv folder create a new text file named AddTwoInts.srv file and add the
following
int64 a
int64 b
---
int64 sum

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Basics of ROS Services Create Custom ROS 2 Services.

S TEP 2: M ODIFY THE CM AKE L ISTS . TXT FILE

To convert the service you defined into language-specific code, add the following lines to
CMakeLists.txt:

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S TEP 3: U PDATE THE PACKAGE . XML FILE AND BUILD THE PACKAGE .

Update the Dependencies in package.xml file

<depend>std msgs</depend>
<buildtool depend>rosidl default generators</buildtool depend>
<exec depend>rosidl default runtime</exec depend>
<member of group>rosidl interface packages</member of group>

Build your colcon worksapce

$ colcon build --symlink-install

Test your generated service. The service variables shoud appear.

$ ros2 interface show my own srv/srv/AddTwoInts

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Basics of ROS Services Create Custom ROS 2 Services.

S TEP 4: M ODIFY THE PACKAGE . XML FILE IN YOUR PACKAGE .

Inside your add two ints srv/package.xml

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Basics of ROS Services Create Custom ROS 2 Services.

S TEP 5: C REATE A ROS 2 SERVER NODE IN P YTHON .

Create a new ROS 2 package

$ ros2 pkg create
--build-type ament python
add two ints srv
Build your colcon workspace
$ colcon build
--symlink-install

Create a server.py file inside

your package.
Server node server.py

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Basics of ROS Services Create Custom ROS 2 Services.

S TEP 6: A DD THE EXECUTABLE SERVER . PY NODE IN SETUP. PY

Inside your add two ints srv/setup.py

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S TEP 7: T EST YOUR SERVER ADD TWO INTS

Run the add two int srv server

$ ros2 run add two ints srv service

List all the running services

$ ros2 service list

Call the service using rqt

$ rqt

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S TEP 8: C REATE A ROS 2 CLIENT NODE IN P YTHON .

Create a client.py node inside

add two ints srv.
Add the executale client file
into setup.py

Colcon build your workspace.

Client node client.py 19

Basics of ROS Services Create Custom ROS 2 Services.

S TEP 10: R UN THE SERVER AND CLIENT SERVICES .

Run the server:

$ ros2 run add two ints srv service

Run the client:

$ ros2 run add two ints srv client 5 6

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ACTIVITY

Activity
Develop a ROS 2 service that control a Turtlbot3 inside Gazebo to move to a certain goal
given by the client in (x, y, θ). The server will return the time taken by the robot to reach the
goal.

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Basics of ROS Services Create Custom ROS 2 Services.

End of Lecture

haitham.elhussieny@ejust.edu.eg

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