1.5.7 Understanding of ROS 2 Nodes, Services, Parameters and Actions

we will explore some of the key foundational concepts of ROS 2: Nodes, Services, Parameters, and Actions. Understanding these concepts is essential for anyone who wants to build, develop, or work with ROS-based robotic applications. Each of these components plays a unique role in the ROS 2 ecosystem, and together, they form the core structure that allows robots to communicate, operate, and interact with their environment.

• Nodes serve as the building blocks for all computations in a ROS 2 system, representing individual processes that handle tasks such as controlling sensors or motors.

• Services offer a way for nodes to engage in a request-response interaction, which is useful when one node requires specific information or needs to trigger certain actions from another node.

• Parameters allow nodes to be configured dynamically at runtime, enabling flexibility and fine-tuning of how nodes behave without needing to change the source code.

• Actions are used for tasks that take time and require feedback, allowing continuous monitoring, control, or the ability to cancel a task while it is still being executed.

By the end of this tutorial, you will have a practical understanding of how these concepts work, how they fit together in a ROS 2 environment, and how you can use them to develop your own robotic applications. Whether you are building a simple robot with basic movement or a complex system that requires multi-task coordination, mastering these core concepts will enable you to design efficient and robust robotic software.