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Week 1 Content Validation

🟢Beginner

This document outlines the validation procedures for Week 1 content to ensure it works correctly on the target hardware setup: RTX 4070 Ti + Ubuntu 22.04.

Hardware Requirements​

  • GPU: RTX 4070 Ti (or equivalent)
  • OS: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
  • RAM: 16GB minimum (32GB recommended)
  • Storage: 50GB free space for ROS 2 and Isaac Sim
  • Processor: Multi-core processor (Intel i7 or AMD Ryzen equivalent)

Prerequisites Verification​

Before testing Week 1 content, verify that your system meets these requirements:

1. Ubuntu 22.04 Verification​

lsb_release -a

Expected output should show Ubuntu 22.04.x LTS.

2. ROS 2 Installation Verification​

source /opt/ros/rolling/setup.bash
ros2 --version

Expected output: ros2 foxy or later version (Kilted Kaiju).

3. Python 3.10+ Verification​

python3 --version

Expected output: Python 3.10 or higher.

Week 1 Content Tests​

Test 1: Basic ROS 2 Commands​

Objective: Verify basic ROS 2 functionality

Steps:

  1. Open a terminal
  2. Source ROS 2: source /opt/ros/rolling/setup.bash
  3. Run: ros2 topic list
  4. Run: ros2 node list

Expected Results:

  • No errors should occur
  • Commands should execute successfully
  • Should show available topics/nodes (even if empty initially)

Test 2: Publisher/Subscriber Example​

Objective: Verify the publisher and subscriber example from Lab 1 works

Steps:

  1. Create a test workspace: 
    mkdir -p ~/test_ws/src
    cd ~/test_ws
  2. Copy the publisher_example.py and subscriber_example.py files to a new package
  3. Build the package: colcon build --packages-select my_robot_tutorials
  4. Source the workspace: source install/setup.bash
  5. In terminal 1: ros2 run my_robot_tutorials talker
  6. In terminal 2: ros2 run my_robot_tutorials listener

Expected Results:

  • Publisher should output "Publishing: 'Hello World: X'" every 0.5 seconds
  • Subscriber should output "I heard: 'Hello World: X'" in response
  • Messages should match between publisher and subscriber

Test 3: ROS 2 Tools Verification​

Objective: Verify ROS 2 monitoring tools work

Steps:

  1. With the publisher/subscriber running, open a third terminal
  2. Source ROS 2: source /opt/ros/rolling/setup.bash
  3. Run: ros2 node list
  4. Run: ros2 topic list
  5. Run: ros2 topic echo /topic std_msgs/msg/String

Expected Results:

  • Should see both 'minimal_publisher' and 'minimal_subscriber' nodes
  • Should see '/topic' in the topic list
  • Should see the same messages being published by the talker node

Test 4: Code Validation Script​

Objective: Verify the validation script works correctly

Steps:

  1. Navigate to the code examples directory
  2. Run the validation script: python3 validate_examples.py

Expected Results:

  • Script should run without errors
  • Should report "All ROS 2 examples passed validation!"

Troubleshooting Common Issues​

Issue 1: "Command 'ros2' not found"​

Symptoms: ROS 2 commands return "command not found" Solution:

  • Verify ROS 2 installation: ls /opt/ros/rolling/
  • Source the setup file: source /opt/ros/rolling/setup.bash
  • Add to shell profile: echo "source /opt/ros/rolling/setup.bash" >> ~/.bashrc

Issue 2: Publisher/Subscriber not communicating​

Symptoms: Publisher runs but subscriber doesn't receive messages Solution:

  • Ensure both terminals have sourced the workspace
  • Check ROS_DOMAIN_ID is the same in both terminals: echo $ROS_DOMAIN_ID
  • Verify topic names match exactly

Issue 3: Python import errors​

Symptoms: "ModuleNotFoundError" for rclpy or std_msgs Solution:

  • Verify ROS 2 Python packages are installed: pip3 list | grep ros
  • Install missing packages: sudo apt install python3-ros-interfaces

Performance Expectations​

Expected Performance on RTX 4070 Ti + Ubuntu 22.04:​

  • ROS 2 commands should execute in < 1 second
  • Publisher/Subscriber communication should have < 100ms latency
  • Memory usage should remain stable during extended runs
  • CPU usage should be moderate (20-40%) for basic examples

Success Criteria​

Week 1 content validation is successful if:

  • All basic ROS 2 commands execute without errors
  • Publisher/Subscriber example runs correctly
  • ROS 2 tools can monitor the communication
  • Code validation script passes
  • No crashes or unexpected behavior occurs
  • Performance meets expectations

Next Steps​

Once Week 1 content validation is complete, proceed to Week 2 content validation which will include Isaac Sim integration tests.