Accidental Adventures in Robotics: ROS and Gazebo - 2
Tags: robotics, ros, gazebo, openrobotics
Published: 2019-08-06 16:25:47

---
title: Accidental Adventures in Robotics: ROS and Gazebo - 2
published: true
description: The first technologies you need to become familiar with are ROS🐢 and Gazebo. Both of these are Open Source technologies that are maintained by the amazing folks at Open Robotics. 
cover_image: https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/tciugsygxgkyxn2ohbgb.jpg
tags: robotics, ROS, Gazebo, Open Robotics
---


Before we launch on more robotic adventures, I want to equip you with the basic tools you'll need to succeed on this noble quest. ⚔️🏰⚔️

<p>The first technologies you need to become familiar with are <b><a href="http://www.ros.org">ROS</a></b>🐢 and <b><a href="http://gazebosim.org">Gazebo</a></b>. Both of these are <em>Open Source</em> technologies that are maintained by the amazing folks at <a href="https://www.openrobotics.org/">Open Robotics</a>. I'll give you an intro on both of these in this post, and deeper dives will come later on.</p> 

<p>In <b>Post #3</b>, I'm going to explain the migration efforts of <b>ROS1⃣</b> to <b>ROS2⃣</b>, and the new enhancements that ROS2 brings. I'll also discuss the <em>Long-Term Support</em> (LTS) version for ROS1, and why I'm excited that the ROS org folks estimate that most users will be able to transition to ROS2 by 2020.</p> 

<p><b>In Post #4</b>, I'll share what the ROS community can get out of <b><a href="https://aws.amazon.com/robomaker/">AWS RoboMaker</a></b>. </p>  


Now don't you worry, there's much more than 4 blog posts coming! But I wanted to give you a quick pointer on the direction we're taking.

So what are we waiting for? Let's get rolling..


<h3>(1) What's this ROS🐢 you speak of? </h3>
<p><b><a href="http://www.ros.org">ROS</a></b> stands for <em>Robot Operating System</em>, but it's not an OS at all!</p> 

<p> Isn't that funny?</p>  

<p>Some people say that ROS is more like middleware. It's also true that ROS is basically an SDK <em>(Software Development Kit)</em>. It provides you with the software, libraries, and tools needed to develop, debug, test, and deploy your robotics applications. </p> 

<p>If you are new to ROS, and want to learn more, here are 2 awesome resources for you to get started with:</p> 
<ul>
<li><a href="http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920024736.do">Programming Robots with ROS</a> <em>(O'Reilly Book)</em> </li>
<li><a href="https://www.udemy.com/ros-essentials/">ROS for Beginners: Basics, Motion, and OpenCV</a> <em>(Udemy course)</em>
</ul>

![](https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/iseambv27y5oe5p558oj.jpg)

<h3>(2) What is Gazebo and what can I do with it? </h3>
<p><b><a href="http://gazebosim.org">Gazebo</a></b> is a 3D, physics-based simulator for robotics apps, with the ability to simulate robot populations in complex indoor and outdoor environments. </p>

![](https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/ny85ca8ic1ap20ifrwp7.png)

Aaaand...while we're on the subject of simulation, it's good to read ahead and also learn about <b>rviz</b> and <b>rqt</b>.  

<ul>
<li><b><a href="http://wiki.ros.org/rqt">rqt</a></b> is a software framework of ROS that implements the various GUI <em>(Graphical User Interface)</em> tools in the form of plugins. It's also super handy for building a quick-and-dirty control panel (status window) for your robot.</li>
<li><b><a href="http://wiki.ros.org/rviz">rviz</a></b> <em>(ROS visualization)</em> is a 3D visualizer for displaying sensor data and state information from ROS.</li>
</ul>

<p>🌈<em>Did You Know? If you're wondering why I had a cute 🐢emoji next to most ROS mentions, it's cause it's their mascot. So just like PHP has their 🐘, ROS has a 🐢.</em></p>


</br>
¡Gracias por tu tiempo!
~Alejandra💁🏻‍♀️ & Canela🐾
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