ROS2 Local Setup Guide

Setup procedure for local ROS2 installation.

Introduction

Robotic Operating System 2 (ROS2) is a software package for developing sofware systems for advance robots. MASLAB relies on ROS2 to facilitate writing custom robotic applications and using other publicly available ROS2 software packages in rapid robot development. ROS2 runs natively on Ubuntu Linux 24.04. For more information about ROS2, please visit: https://www.ros.org/ to learn more!

Install Ubuntu 24.04

Virtual machine (Recommended)

If you are not already using Ubuntu 24.04, using virtual machine software to install and run Ubuntu on your computer is recommended for flexibility and ease of installation. Below is the instruction to set up Ubuntu on using VirtualBox.

Download and install Virtualbox

1. Download VirtualBox at: https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads.

Important

Download BOTH VirtualBox platform packages for your operating system AND VirtualBox Extension Pack.

2. Once both are downloaded, run the VirtualBox platform package installation file and follow through the software installation system to install Virtualbox.
3. Once VirtualBox installation is finished, open the VirtualBox Extension Pack to install extension pack.

Download and install Ubuntu 24.04 on VirtualBox

1. Download Ubuntu 24.04 installation .iso file.
   • For Intel / AMD processor (Windows and older generation Mac): https://ubuntu.com/download/desktop
   • For Mac with M processors: https://cdimage.ubuntu.com/noble/daily-live/current/noble-desktop-arm64.iso

Important

Download Ubuntu 24.04.x LTS. NOT Ubuntu 24.10

2. After downloading Ubuntu install file, follow this video to install Ubuntu on VirtualBox: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw9c991-4KE

Note

Recommended settings:

• 30Gb storage
• At least 4Gb memory and at most half your computer's memory

Note

The installation may show this error. Just ignore it and wait it out.

Install VirtualBox Guest Additions

VirtualBox Guest Additions enables drag-and-drop from your computer to virtual Ubuntu and better graphic supports. To install:

1. Log in and follow through the welcome screen.
2. Open Terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T or Control+Option+T
3. Run the following commands:

   sudo apt update
   sudo apt install -y build-essential dkms linux-headers-$(uname -r)

Tip

Sudo allow you to install / modify system files thus requires entering your password. Ubuntu terminal does not show typing while entering password to password for <user>: prompt. Just keep typing the password and hit Return/Enter to submit password.

4. Select Devices > Insert Guest Addition CD image....
   

5. Open the CD and click Run Software.
   

6. Enter password and allow the installation to run.
   

7. Press Enter to close the opened terminal when installation finishes.

8. Click Devices and enable Shared Clipboard to copy and paste and Drag and Drop to drag files between your main computer environment and the virtual Ubuntu.
   

9. Restart by clicking top right corner > power button and select Restart...
   

Additional settings

For better experience in virtual Ubuntu, make the following changes to the virtual machine settings.

1. Turn off Ubuntu by clicking top right corner > power button and select Power Off...

2. In VirtualBox manager, select the virtual machine and click the Settings gear.
   

3. Switch from Basic to Expert mode.

4. Select System and make sure processors count is at least 2 with 100% execution cap.
   

5. Select Display and make sure video memory is maxed out at 128MB. If you are using Windows or older generation Mac, enable 3D Acceleration in Extended Features.

Warning

3D acceleration may not work for all devices. If Ubuntu does not boot after enabling 3D acceleration, disable it and try again.

6. Select USB and make sure USB Controller is enabled and set to USB 3.0.
   

7. Click Ok to save the settings.

Install ROS 2

MASLAB staffs have prepared a script to automatically install and setup your Ubuntu installation for ROS 2. To use the script:

1. Open Terminal
2. Run the following commands:

   wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/MASLAB/ros2-setup/refs/heads/main/setup.sh
   chmod +x ./setup.sh && ./setup.sh

3. Enter your team's number and press Enter to start installation progress. Enter password if necessary.

Warning

Please enter your team NUMBER only. (ex: 1, 2, 12)

4. Once installation is finished, try playing with ROS 2 with the FizzBuzz tutorial at: https://github.com/MASLAB/ROS2_FizzBuzz

For manual installation and setup, refer to ROS 2 online documentation at: https://docs.ros.org/en/jazzy/