Document type
Conference papers
Document subtype
Extended abstract/Short paper
Title
An Experience Report on Challenges in Learning the Robot Operating System
Participants in the publication
Paulo Canelas (Author)
LASIGE
Miguel Tavares (Author)
Ricardo Cordeiro (Author)
Alcides Fonseca (Author)
LASIGE
Christopher S. Timperley (Author)
Summary
The Robot Operating System (ROS) was initially introduced to lower the barriers to robots software development by reducing the need for extensive domain knowledge. ROS allows developers to build valuable robots by configuring and reusing off-the-shelf components while writing little, if any, code through its modular design, loosely coupled architecture, and rich package ecosystem. However, despite the advantages of this approach, the lack of documentation can present a challenge to novice users. In this work, we discuss the challenges and experience of learning and using ROS from the perspective of three novice users with little to no prior experience in robotics. We report on the experiences in learning ROS through a popular commercial training course provided by The Construct Sim. Through our analysis, we identify several common misunderstandings, mistakes, and bugs, and we outline possible improvements to ROS to overcome these challenges. Our findings motivate further studies on the development of robotic systems in ROS by novice users and promote the improvement of the ROS ecosystem, on educational and training materials of ROS, and on tooling development to help novices identify and correct simple mistakes.
Date of Submisson/Request
2022-01-22
Date of Acceptance
2022-03-18
Date of Publication
2022-05-09
Institution
FACULDADE DE CIÊNCIAS DA UNIVERSIDADE DE LISBOA
Event
International Workshop on Robotics Software Engineering
Publication Identifiers
ISBN - 9781450393171/22/05
Keywords
Robot Operating System
Python
Deeveloper Experience
Usability