Introduction to ROS 2 Development with Docker

Acknowledgment

This guide is a community contribution. Docker would like to thank Shakirth Anisha for her contribution to this guide.

ROS 2 is a set of software libraries and tools for building robot applications. It uses Data Distribution Service (DDS) for real-time, secure communication between distributed nodes, making it ideal for robotics and autonomous systems.

What will you learn?

In this guide, you'll learn how to:

• Use official ROS 2 base images from Docker Hub
• Run ROS 2 in an Ubuntu container
• Install ROS 2 packages and dependencies
• Set up a development container for local development
• Run a complete end-to-end example with Turtlesim

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you're familiar with the following:

• Docker Desktop: You must have Docker Desktop installed and running.
• Docker concepts: You must understand core Docker concepts, such as images and containers.
• ROS 2 concepts: Basic understanding of concepts like nodes, packages, topics, and services.

What's next?

Start by setting up your ROS 2 development environment using Docker and dev containers.

Modules

1. Run ROS 2

   Run ROS 2 in an isolated Docker container using official ROS 2 images and install additional ROS 2 packages.

2. Set Up ROS 2 workspace

   Learn how to develop ROS 2 applications using a Docker based workspace and development containers.

3. Turtlesim example

   Run a complete end-to-end ROS 2 example with Turtlesim.