Chapter 12: Working with pluginlib, nodelets, and Gazebo Plugins
In the previous chapter, we discussed the interfacing and simulation of a mobile robot to the Robot Operating System (ROS) Navigation Stack. In this chapter, we will look at some advanced concepts in ROS, such as the ROS pluginlib, nodelets, and Gazebo plugins. We will discuss the functionalities and applications of each concept and will look at an example to demonstrate its working. We have used Gazebo plugins in the previous chapters to get the sensor and robot behavior inside the Gazebo simulator. In this chapter, we're going to see how to create it. We will also discuss a different form of ROS node, called ROS nodelets. These features in ROS are implemented using a plugin architecture called pluginlib.
In this chapter, we will discuss the following topics:
- Understanding
pluginlib - Understanding ROS
nodelets - Understanding and creating a
Gazeboplugin
