Environment Setup: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS & ROS 2 Humble

This guide documents the installation process of the Ubuntu 22.04 (Jammy Jellyfish) operating system and the configuration of the ROS 2 Humble Hawksbill robotics framework.

1. Operating System Installation

Before starting, define your installation method.

Note regarding Virtual Machines (VM)

You may choose to install Ubuntu on a Virtual Machine (using software like VirtualBox or VMware). This is a safe option for initial testing and does not affect your current operating system.

• Pros: Easy to set up, no risk of losing Windows/Mac data.
• Cons: Graphics performance (GPU) is significantly reduced, which may cause lag in ROS simulation tools (such as Gazebo and RViz).

Attention: This tutorial focuses on Native Installation (USB Boot) to ensure direct hardware access and maximum performance. If you choose to use a VM, install Ubuntu 22.04 on it and skip directly to Section 2.

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Native Installation (Dual Boot or Dedicated)

Ensure you are running a clean and updated installation of Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.

Prerequisites

• Bootable USB drive (minimum 8GB).
• Official Ubuntu 22.04 LTS ISO: Click here to download (releases.ubuntu.com)
  • Note: Make sure to download the "Desktop image" version.

Critical Steps

1. Boot via USB (BIOS/UEFI).
2. Select the standard installation.
3. Important: Check the option "Install third-party software for graphics and Wi-Fi hardware" during installation to ensure proprietary drivers (NVIDIA, Wi-Fi, etc.) are installed.

After the first login, open the terminal and update the base system:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

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2. ROS 2 Humble Installation

Following the official documentation and system requirements.

2.1 Locale Configuration (UTF-8)

ROS 2 requires an environment with UTF-8 support.

Execute the commands below to ensure the correct configuration:

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

Verify the settings with the command: locale

2.2 Adding Repositories (Sources)

It is necessary to enable the Ubuntu Universe repository and add the ROS 2 GPG key.

1. Enable Universe:

   sudo apt install software-properties-common
   sudo add-apt-repository universe

2. Add GPG Key and Repository:

   sudo apt update && sudo apt install curl -y
   sudo curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ros/rosdistro/master/ros.key -o /usr/share/keyrings/ros-archive-keyring.gpg
   
   echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/ros-archive-keyring.gpg] http://packages.ros.org/ros2/ubuntu $(source /etc/os-release && echo $UBUNTU_CODENAME) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ros2.list > /dev/null

2.3 Package Installation

Warning: Due to recent updates in Ubuntu 22.04 (systemd/udev), it is crucial to run the upgrade command before installing ROS packages to avoid dependency conflicts.

1. Update repository cache:

   sudo apt update
   sudo apt upgrade

2. Desktop Version Installation (Recommended): Includes ROS, RViz, demos, and tutorials.

   sudo apt install ros-humble-desktop

3. Development Tools: Required to build packages later (Colcon).

   sudo apt install ros-dev-tools

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3. Environment Configuration (Sourcing)

For the terminal to recognize ROS commands, the setup script must be loaded.

Run this in every new terminal:

source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash

Automation (Optional): To add this to your .bashrc and automatically load it in every new terminal session:

echo "source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash" >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

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#4. Installation Verification (Talker/Listener Demo)

To validate communication between Nodes, we will use the C++ (Talker) and Python (Listener) examples.

1. Terminal 1 (Talker):

   source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash
   ros2 run demo_nodes_cpp talker

2. Terminal 2 (Listener):

   source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash
   ros2 run demo_nodes_py listener

If the Listener receives the "Hello World" messages from the Talker, the installation was successful.