For People In A Hurry: How To Set Up Zenoh Bridge on a Turtlebot4

README.md

Note

This is a quick copy-paste-observe guide that shows you how to set up and run a Zenoh Bridge.

Please refer to the references below if unclear on what is a Zenoh Bridge.

Instruction(s) 📘

1. Download binaries for Zenoh Bridge.

Release Page: https://github.com/eclipse-zenoh/zenoh-plugin-ros2dds/releases/tag/1.9.0 Asset Name: zenoh-plugin-ros2dds-1.9.0-aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu-standalone.zip

wget https://github.com/eclipse-zenoh/zenoh-plugin-ros2dds/releases/download/1.9.0/zenoh-plugin-ros2dds-1.9.0-aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu-standalone.zip

Note

Last verified working with the above version of Zenoh Bridge

2. Unpack the following binary:

unzip zenoh-plugin-ros2dds-1.9.0-aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu-standalone.zip zenoh-bridge-ros2dds

3. Create the following config.json5 Zenoh Bridge configuration file:

{
  plugins: {
    ros2dds: {}
  },

  mode: "client",

  connect: {
    endpoints: [
      "tcp/<INSERT IP ADDRESS OF ZENOH ROUTER HERE>:7447"
    ]
  }
}

Replace <INSERT IP ADDRESS OF ZENOH ROUTER HERE> with the actual IP address of a Zenoh Router you intend to use. Eg. 192.168.100.50

Note

For further details on how to configure, please refer to this template DEFAULT_CONFIG.json5.

4. Run Zenoh Bridge manually using the command below:

./zenoh-bridge-ros2dds -c config.json5

Reference(s) 📚

1. What is Zenoh - https://zenoh.io/docs/overview/what-is-zenoh/
2. Integrating ROS 2 with Eclipse Zenoh - https://zenoh.io/blog/2021-04-28-ros2-integration/
3. Can't teleoperate TB4 with remote PC - turtlebot/turtlebot4#494 (comment)

Optimized Turtlebot4 Zenoh Bridge Configuration

Use the following .json5 configuration file to minimize network bandwidth use by Zenoh Bridge and avoid potential Turtlebot4 Create4 base hardware failure:

{
  plugins: {
    ros2dds: {
      allow: {
        // ROS 2 topics published by the TurtleBot 4
        publishers: [
          "^/odom$",
          "^/scan$",
          "^/tf$",
          "^/tf_static$",
          "^/map$",
          "^/map_metadata$",
          "^/amcl_pose$",
          "^/battery_state$",
          "^/robot_state$",
          "^/clock$",
          "^/rosout$",
          "^/parameter_events$"
        ],

        // ROS 2 topics consumed by the TurtleBot 4
        subscribers: [
          "^/cmd_vel$",
          "^/initialpose$",
          "^/goal_pose$",
          "^/clock$",
          "^/parameter_events$"
        ],

        // Keep services disabled unless you specifically need
        // remote parameter/service interaction.
        service_servers: [],

        service_clients: [],

        // Keep actions disabled for now. See note below.
        action_servers: [],
        action_clients: []
      }
    }
  },

  mode: "client",

  connect: {
    endpoints: [
      "tcp/<INSERT IP ADDRESS OF ZENOH ROUTER HERE>:7447"
    ]
  }
}

Replace <INSERT IP ADDRESS OF ZENOH ROUTER HERE> with the actual IP address of a Zenoh Router.

🌉 Looking To Run Zenoh Bridge Detached [SUDO]?

It would get very cumbersome and inefficient if you have to start Zenoh Bridge manually for multiple Turtlebot4s in your fleet. Therefore, follow the steps below to run Zenoh Bridge as a boot-persistent service daemon:

Instructions 📘

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/zenoh-bridge.service

[Unit]
Description=Zenoh Bridge ROS 2 DDS
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=simple
ExecStart=< INSERT PATH TO ZENOH BRIDGE BINARY >/zenoh-bridge-ros2dds -c < INSERT PATH TO ZENOH CONFIG JSON >/bridge.json5
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

Replace < INSERT PATH TO ZENOH BRIDGE BINARY > with the directory path to the binary.
Replace < INSERT PATH TO ZENOH CONFIG JSON > with the directory path to the .json5 configuration file.

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable zenoh-bridge.service

sudo systemctl start zenoh-bridge.service

Verify ✅

sudo systemctl status zenoh-bridge.service

It should show that its status to be active.

sudo journalctl -u zenoh-bridge.service -f