Create ROS Workspace¶

In this exercise, we will create and build an empty ROS workspace.

Motivation¶

Any ROS project begins with making a workspace. In this workspace, you will put all the things related to this particular project. In this module we will create the workspace where we will build the components of our Scan-N-Plan application.

Reference Example¶

Steps to creating a workspace: Creating a Workspace

Further Information and Resources¶

Additional details on what a ROS environment consists of and some basic checks you can run: Configuring a ROS2 Environment

Scan-N-Plan Application: Problem Statement¶

We have a good installation of ROS, and we need to take the first step to setting up our particular application. Your goal is to create a workspace for your application and its supplements.

Scan-N-Plan Application: Guidance¶

Create a Workspace¶

Create the root workspace directory. Note that the required structure is a top-level directory and a src/ directory one level down. The directory name is a completely free choice. We will use ros2_ws throughout these tutorials.
```
cd ~/
mkdir --parents ros2_ws/src
cd ros2_ws
```
Build the workspace from the workspace root-directory (ros2_ws).
```
colcon build
ls
```
- See that the ros2_ws directory now contains additional directories (build, install, log).
These new directories can be safely deleted at any time. Note that colcon never changes any files in the src directory. Re-run colcon build to re-create the build/install/log directories.
```
rm -r build/ install/ log/
ls
colcon build
ls
```
Make the workspace visible to ROS. Source the setup file in the install directory.
```
source install/setup.bash
```
- This file MUST be sourced for every new terminal.
- To save typing, add this to your ~/.bashrc file, so it is automatically sourced for each new terminal:
  1. gedit ~/.bashrc
  2. add to the end: source ~/ros2_ws/install/setup.bash
  3. save and close the editor