How to Create a Subscriber Node in C++ – Jazzy

ros2-jazzy-cpp-subscriber

In this tutorial, we will create a C++ subscriber for ROS 2.

In ROS 2 (Robot Operating System 2), a C++ subscriber is a program (written in C++) that listens for messages being published on a specific topic.

Topics in ROS 2 are channels of communication named according to the type of information they carry, such as “/robot/speed” for speed information or “/camera/image” for vision information. Each subscriber in ROS 2 declares its interest in a particular topic and is programmed to react or process the messages received on that topic.

The official instructions for creating a subscriber are here, but I will walk you through the entire process, step by step.

We will be following the ROS 2 C++ Style Guide.

Let’s get started!

Follow along with me click by click, keystroke by keystroke.

Prerequisites

Write the Code

Open a terminal, and type these commands to open VS Code.

cd ~/ros2_ws && code .

Right-click on the src/ros2_fundamentals_examples/src folder to create a new file called “cpp_minimal_subscriber.cpp”.

Type the following code inside cpp_minimal_subscriber.cpp:

/**
 * @file cpp_minimal_subscriber.cpp
 * @brief Demonstrates subscribing to string messages on a ROS 2 topic.
 *
 * Description: Demonstrates the basics of subscribing to messages within
 *   the ROS 2 framework. The core functionality of this subscriber is to
 *   display output to the terminal window when a message is received over
 *   a topic.
 *
 * -------
 * Subscription Topics:
 *   String message
 *   /cpp_example_topic - std_msgs/String
 * -------
 * Publishing Topics:
 *   None
 * -------
 * @author Addison Sears-Collins
 * @date November 5, 2024
 */

#include "rclcpp/rclcpp.hpp" // ROS 2 C++ client library
#include "std_msgs/msg/string.hpp" // Handle tring messages
using std::placeholders::_1; // Placeholder for callback function argument

/**
 * @class MinimalCppSubscriber
 * @brief Defines a minimal ROS 2 subscriber node.
 *
 * This class inherits from rclcpp::Node and
 * demonstrates creating a subscriber and
 * subscribing to messages.
 */
class MinimalCppSubscriber : public rclcpp::Node
{
public:
    /**
     * @brief Constructs a MinimalCppSubscriber node.
     *
     * Sets up a subscriber for 'std_msgs::msg::String' messages
	 * on the "/cpp_example_topic" topic.
     */
    MinimalCppSubscriber() : Node("minimal_cpp_subscriber")
    {
        // Create a subscriber object for listening to string messages on
        // with a queue size of 10.
        subscriber_ = create_subscription<std_msgs::msg::String>
        (
            "/cpp_example_topic",
            10,
            std::bind(
                &MinimalCppSubscriber::topicCallback,
                this,
                _1
            )
        );
    }

    /**
     * @brief This function runs every time a message is received on the topic.
     *
     * This is the callback function of the subscriber. It publishes a
	 * string message every time a message is received on the topic.
     *
     * @param msg The string message received on the topic
     * @return void
     */
    void topicCallback(const std_msgs::msg::String &msg) const
    {
        // Write a message every time a new message is received on the topic.
        RCLCPP_INFO_STREAM(get_logger(), "I heard: " << msg.data.c_str());

    }

private:
    // Member variables.
    rclcpp::Subscription<std_msgs::msg::String>::SharedPtr subscriber_;
};

/**
 * @brief Main function.
 *
 * Initializes the ROS 2 system and runs the minimal_cpp_subscriber node.
 * It keeps the node alive until it is manually terminated.
 */
int main(int argc, char * argv[])
{

  // Initialize ROS 2.
  rclcpp::init(argc, argv);

  // Create an instance of the MinimalCppSubscriber node and keep it running.
  auto minimal_cpp_subscriber_node = std::make_shared<MinimalCppSubscriber>();
  rclcpp::spin(minimal_cpp_subscriber_node);

  // Shutdown ROS 2 upon node termination.
  rclcpp::shutdown();

  // End of program.
  return 0;
}

Configure CMakeLists.txt

Now we need to modify the CMakeLists.txt file inside the package so that the ROS 2 system will be able to find the code we just wrote.

Open up the CMakeLists.txt file that is inside the package.

Make it look like this:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.8)
project(ros2_fundamentals_examples)

# Check if the compiler being used is GNU's C++ compiler (g++) or Clang.
# Add compiler flags for all targets that will be defined later in the
# CMakeLists file. These flags enable extra warnings to help catch
# potential issues in the code.
# Add options to the compilation process
if(CMAKE_COMPILER_IS_GNUCXX OR CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "Clang")
  add_compile_options(-Wall -Wextra -Wpedantic)
endif()

# Locate and configure packages required by the project.
find_package(ament_cmake REQUIRED)
find_package(ament_cmake_python REQUIRED)
find_package(rclcpp REQUIRED)
find_package(rclpy REQUIRED)
find_package(std_msgs REQUIRED)

# Define a CMake variable named dependencies that lists all
# ROS 2 packages and other dependencies the project requires.
set(dependencies
  rclcpp
  std_msgs
)

# Add the specified directories to the list of paths that the compiler
# uses to search for header files. This is important for C++
# projects where you have custom header files that are not located
# in the standard system include paths.
include_directories(
  include
)

# Tells CMake to create an executable target named cpp_minimal_publisher
# from the source file src/cpp_minimal_publisher.cpp. Also make sure CMake
# knows about the program's dependencies.
add_executable(cpp_minimal_publisher src/cpp_minimal_publisher.cpp)
ament_target_dependencies(cpp_minimal_publisher ${dependencies})

add_executable(cpp_minimal_subscriber src/cpp_minimal_subscriber.cpp)
ament_target_dependencies(cpp_minimal_subscriber ${dependencies})

# Copy necessary files to designated locations in the project
install (
  DIRECTORY ros2_fundamentals_examples scripts
  DESTINATION share/${PROJECT_NAME}
)

install(
  DIRECTORY include/
  DESTINATION include
)

# Install cpp executables
install(
  TARGETS
  cpp_minimal_publisher
  cpp_minimal_subscriber
  DESTINATION lib/${PROJECT_NAME}
)

# Install Python modules for import
ament_python_install_package(${PROJECT_NAME})

# Add this section to install Python scripts
install(
  PROGRAMS
  ros2_fundamentals_examples/py_minimal_publisher.py
  ros2_fundamentals_examples/py_minimal_subscriber.py
  DESTINATION lib/${PROJECT_NAME}
)

# Automates the process of setting up linting for the package, which
# is the process of running tools that analyze the code for potential
# errors, style issues, and other discrepancies that do not adhere to
# specified coding standards or best practices.
if(BUILD_TESTING)
  find_package(ament_lint_auto REQUIRED)
  # the following line skips the linter which checks for copyrights
  # comment the line when a copyright and license is added to all source files
  set(ament_cmake_copyright_FOUND TRUE)
  # the following line skips cpplint (only works in a git repo)
  # comment the line when this package is in a git repo and when
  # a copyright and license is added to all source files
  set(ament_cmake_cpplint_FOUND TRUE)
  ament_lint_auto_find_test_dependencies()
endif()

# Used to export include directories of a package so that they can be easily
# included by other packages that depend on this package.
ament_export_include_directories(include)

# Generate and install all the necessary CMake and environment hooks that
# allow other packages to find and use this package.
ament_package()

Build the Workspace

To build the workspace, open a terminal window, and type:

build

If this command doesn’t work, type these commands:

echo "alias build='cd ~/dev_ws/ && colcon build && source ~/.bashrc'" >> ~/.bashrc
build

Run the Nodes

First run your publisher node.

ros2 run ros2_fundamentals_examples cpp_minimal_publisher 

Now run your subscriber node in another terminal window.

ros2 run ros2_fundamentals_examples cpp_minimal_subscriber
1-cpp-minimal-subscriber

An Important Note on Subscribers and Publishers

In the example above, we published a string message to a topic named /cpp_example_topic using a C++ node, and we subscribed to that topic using a C++node. 

ROS 2 is language agnostic, so we could have also used a Python node to do the publishing and a C++ node to do the subscribing, and vice versa.

That’s it for now. Keep building!