ROS1 or ROS2 for your Robotics Product?

18/02/2022

Overview

This post tries to answer the following question: ROS1 vs ROS2: Which one is the best for launching faster a better product?

The post is an intro to the webinar where we discussed which version of ROS to use (ROS1 or ROS2) for your next robotics product.

We analyzed the question from the point of view of a company that wants to deliver a professional product, not from the point of view of a ROS Developer.

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Quick and Dirty answer

Use ROS1: if your product is going to be released before the end of 2021
Use ROS2: if you plan to release your product after 2021

Longer answer (Using ROS1)

The reason why ROS1 may be a good choice for you is that ROS1 is already really mature, which allows you to move really fast since it has a ton of mature features ready to use.

The ideal would be: You make the robot available with ROS1, check if it is successful. If that is the case, you can always make a transition from ROS1 to ROS2 in the next years, once you know from the market that your product is something valid.

Longer answer (Using ROS2)

If you are planning to release your product after 2021, go and take ROS2.

The reason why you should ideally start already with ROS2 is that ROS2 is the future of ROS, therefore, the future of robotics. Your robot will already be ready for what is coming for the next years.

ROS1 vs ROS2 Evaluation Questions for Companies

If you want to know the answers for deeper ROS-related important questions for companies, like the ones below:

Which ROS version has all the technical requirements that my product needs?
Which ROS version for product development?
Which ROS version for product release?

Please, take our Full Webinar available at The Construct for enterprise: https://www.theconstruct.ai/ros-team-training-3/

Important things you have to know before starting with ROS2:

Doing everything in ROS2 is going to be a little more difficult than if you were to do with ROS1. You will need more time to do anything in ROS2.
The reason is the same already explained: ROS1 is more mature, so, it is very likely that whatever you want to do in ROS1, someone may have already done it, therefore, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel, whereas in ROS2, is less likely to have everything that you need already implemented.

Youtube video

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Keep pushing your ROS Learning.