robot-bringup

What problem does it solve?

Patterns and best practices for bringing up a complete ROS2-based robotics system on a robot's onboard computer, including systemd services, launch file composition, ordered startup, and production monitoring. Use this skill when configuring a robot to start ROS2 nodes on boot, writing systemd unit files for ROS2 launch, composing layered launch files for full robot stacks, setting up watchdog monitoring, configuring udev rules for deterministic device naming, or debugging boot-time race conditions. Trigger whenever the user mentions robot bringup, robot startup, systemd for ROS2, ROS2 on boot, launch file composition, robot boot sequence, udev rules for cameras or serial ports, watchdog for robot systems, automatic restart for ROS2 nodes, network configuration for multi-machine ROS2, log rotation for robots, graceful shutdown of robot stacks, or SSH-based remote debugging of robots. Also trigger for environment setup in systemd (sourcing workspaces), ordered startup with health checks, deterministic device naming, or any discussion of running ROS2 systems as long-running production services. Covers systemd on Ubuntu 22.04/24.04 with ROS2 Humble, Iron, and Jazzy.

Core Features & Use Cases

• Systemd Service Units for ROS2: long-running services that source workspaces and launch ROS2 stacks with watchdog support.
• Layered Launch & Dependencies: hardware, drivers, perception, and application layers composed into a single bringup, with explicit ordering and health checks.
• Deterministic Device Naming: udev rules and stable DDS configurations for reliable multi-device setups.
• Production Reliability: health checks, log rotation, and graceful shutdown handlers to ensure robust operation in the field.
• Remote Debug & Multi-machine ROS2: environment configuration and multi-machine discovery for coordinated deployments.

Quick Start

Deploy the robot-bringup systemd service and layered ROS2 launch files, then enable the service and verify startup completes in the correct order with health checks.