ROS System Requirements

ROS 1 Requirements

Since R2020b, the ROS Toolbox supports the ROS Melodic Morenia distribution for ROS.

Platforms

Windows^® — Windows 10 recommended for all ROS distributions. For ROS Melodic, only Windows 10 is supported.
Linux^® — Ubuntu 18.04 recommended.
Mac OS X

For more information about ROS Melodic support, see their Target Platforms page.

Python Version 2.7

To connect to ROS networks with the rosinit function, you must install and setup Python 2.7.

To check your Python^® version, use the pyenv function.

pyenv

ans = 
  PythonEnvironment with properties:

          Version: "2.7"
       Executable: "C:\Python27\pythonw.exe"
          Library: "C:\windows\system32\python27.dll"
             Home: "C:\Python27"
           Status: NotLoaded
    ExecutionMode: OutOfProcess

If your Python interpreter is set to a different version, restart MATLAB^® and set the version with pyenv.

pyenv('Version','2.7')

ROS Custom Messages

When generating custom messages for ROS, you must build the ROS packages. This requires you to have Python, CMake, and a C++ compiler for your platform:

Download and install CMake 3.15.5+.

C++ Compilers

Windows— Visual Studio 2017 or 2019
Linux— GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) 6.3+
macOS — Xcode 10+

ROS 2 Requirements

Since R2020a, the ROS Toolbox supports the Dashing Diademata distribution for ROS 2.

Platforms

Windows 10 only
Linux — Ubuntu 18.04 recommended
macOS — Sierra (10.12.x)

For more information about ROS Dashing support, see their Dashing Diademata page.

ROS 2 Custom Messages

When generating custom messages for ROS 2, you must build the ROS packages. This requires you to have Python, CMake, and a C++ compiler for your platform.

Python Version 3.7

Install and setup Python 3.7.

To check your Python version, use the pyenv function.

pyenv

ans = 
  PythonEnvironment with properties:

          Version: "3.7"
       Executable: "C:\Python37\pythonw.exe"
          Library: "C:\windows\system32\python37.dll"
             Home: "C:\Python37"
           Status: NotLoaded
    ExecutionMode: OutOfProcess

If your Python interpreter is set to a different version, restart MATLAB and set the install version with pyenv.

pyenv('Version','3.7')