What is ROS, when should we use it, and why?

Before we start understanding what ROS is, let’s understand why we would need it.

Why ROS?

Let’s start with a big problem that occurs often in robotics.

Imagine that you just got a new project at your job, and you have to develop a robotics application, or you are doing a new research thesis. One very important thing to take into account is that in real life, any project or thesis will have a specific duration, from a few months to a few years.

Now, what will happen?

You start to design the robotics system you need for your project and soon realize that it will take a lot of time to develop the robot because all the existing solutions you found don’t match what you need. After a few weeks, you finalize the specifications, and you start building your robot. A few months in, you’re still developing the basic software for wheel control and navigation. You underestimated how much time it would take...