Create Catkin Workspace¶

In this exercise, we will create a ROS catkin 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 Catkin Workspace

Note: Many current examples on ros.org use the older-style catkin_init_workspace commands. These are similar, but not directly interchangeable with the catkin_tools commands used in this course.

Further Information and Resources¶

Using a Catkin Workspace: Using a Workspace

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 - a catkin workspace - for your application and its supplements.

Scan-N-Plan Application: Guidance¶

Create a Catkin Workspace¶

Create the root workspace directory (we’ll use catkin_ws)
```
cd ~/
mkdir --parents catkin_ws/src
cd catkin_ws
```
Initialize the catkin workspace
```
catkin init
```
- Look for the statement “Workspace configuration appears valid”, showing that your catkin workspace was created successfully. If you forgot to create the src directory, or did not run catkin init from the workspace root (both common mistakes), you’ll get an error message like “WARNING: Source space does not yet exist”.
Build the workspace. This command may be issued anywhere under the workspace root-directory (i.e. catkin_ws).
```
catkin build
ls
```
- See that the catkin_ws directory now contains additional directories (build, devel, logs).
These new directories can be safely deleted at any time (either manually, or using catkin clean). Note that catkin never changes any files in the src directory. Re-run catkin build to re-create the build/devel/logs directories.
```
catkin clean
ls
catkin build
ls
```
Make the workspace visible to ROS. Source the setup file in the devel directory.
```
source devel/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 ~/catkin_ws/devel/setup.bash
  3. save and close the editor