Glossary: ROS 2 and Humanoid Robotics
A
Action: A ROS 2 communication pattern for long-running tasks that provides feedback and the ability to cancel the task.
AI Agent: An intelligent system that perceives its environment and takes actions to achieve goals, often implemented in Python for integration with ROS 2.
B
Behavior Controller: A ROS 2 node that manages high-level robot behaviors such as walking, grasping, or balancing.
C
Communication Pattern: The method by which ROS 2 nodes exchange information, including topics, services, and actions.
D
Distributed Computing: A ROS 2 system design where multiple computers work together in a robot system, communicating via ROS 2 middleware.
E
Embodied Intelligence: The concept that intelligence emerges from the interaction between an agent and its environment, facilitated by ROS 2's communication infrastructure.
G
Goal: In ROS 2 actions, the definition of the task to be performed by an action server.
H
Humanoid Robot: A robot with a human-like structure, typically including a head, torso, arms, and legs.
I
Inertial Properties: Physical properties in URDF including mass, center of mass, and moments of inertia that define how a link responds to forces.
J
Joint: In URDF, the connection between two links that defines the kinematic relationship and allowable motion.
Joint Controller: A ROS 2 node that manages the position, velocity, or effort of robot joints.
L
Link: In URDF, a rigid body that represents a part of the robot structure.
M
Middleware: Software that acts as a bridge between operating systems and applications, in ROS 2's case enabling communication between robot software components.
N
Node: The fundamental execution entity in ROS 2, an executable that uses ROS client libraries to communicate with other nodes.
P
Physical AI: Artificial intelligence systems that interact with the physical world through robotic platforms, often using ROS 2 as middleware.
Publisher: A ROS 2 component that sends messages to a topic.
Q
QoS (Quality of Service): Settings in ROS 2 that allow fine-tuning of communication behavior, including reliability, durability, and history policies.
R
ROS 2 (Robot Operating System 2): A flexible framework for writing robot software that provides middleware for communication between robot components.
Robot State Publisher: A ROS 2 node that reads joint positions and publishes coordinate transforms for visualization and navigation.
S
Service: A ROS 2 communication pattern that provides synchronous request-response interactions between nodes.
Subscriber: A ROS 2 component that receives messages from a topic.
T
TF (Transforms): The system in ROS 2 that manages coordinate frame transformations, essential for robot localization and navigation.
Topic: A ROS 2 communication mechanism using a publish-subscribe pattern for asynchronous message passing.
U
URDF (Unified Robot Description Format): An XML format for representing robot models, including kinematic structure, visual appearance, and physical properties.
V
Visualization: The representation of robot data and state in tools like RViz for monitoring and debugging.
X
xacro: An XML macro language that extends URDF with variables, expressions, and reusable macros.
Z
Zeroconf (Zero Configuration): The ability to set up and operate a ROS 2 network without manual configuration of network addresses.