We’re happy to announce the release of ROS 2 Beta 1, codenamed Asphalt!
Installation instructions and tutorials can be found on the wiki: https://github.com/ros2/ros2/wiki
To get an idea of what’s in (and what’s not in) this release, be sure to read the overview page: https://github.com/ros2/ros2/wiki/Beta1-Overview
The list of all features available in Beta 1 can be found here: https://github.com/ros2/ros2/wiki/Features
As the “beta” qualifier suggests, this release of ROS 2 is not complete. However, we consider it to the point now where many things are ready for feedback from a broader audience, hence the label “beta” instead of “alpha”. That being said, you should not expect to switch from ROS 1 to ROS 2 right now, nor should you expect to build a complete robot control system with ROS 2. Rather, you should expect to try out some demos, explore the code, participate in online discussions, and perhaps write your own demos.
As a couple of examples of what remains on the todo list, we don’t yet have the rostopic-like suite of command-line tools that you’re used to, nor do we have support for topic namespaces. All of that and more is coming in the future. Our development plans are in the roadmap: https://github.com/ros2/ros2/wiki/Roadmap
For a narrative overview of ROS 2, check out Deanna’s and William’s recent ROSCon presentation:
As always, we invite you to try out the new software, give feedback, report bugs, and suggest features (and contribute code!): https://github.com/ros2/ros2/wiki/Contact
- Your friendly neighborhood ROS 2 Team