ROS Setup
What is the Robot Operating System (ROS)?
ROS is not actually an operating system. It is a means for creating highly specialized programs in a variety of languages and having them play nice with one another. Programmers can write programs in C++, Python, Java, and Lisp (but mainly the first two) to accomplish very specific tasks. ROS then allows those programs to work together to run the robot.
In addition to this, ROS is also an open-source community. Because the programs written for ROS are very specific to a certain task, these programs can be distributed amongst other programmers who are trying to accomplish the same task. If faced with a problem, it is advised to search through the ROS wiki for a solution, because one has most likely already been found and shared.
This wiki will provide an easy to follow beginners guide to ROS Indigo on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. More information can be found on the official ROS wiki: http://wiki.ros.org
Setup
After installing Ubuntu alongside your current operating system or setting up your virtual machine, you need to install ROS. The process of installing ROS consists of the following steps:
