RoShip Interfaces

ROS2 interface definitions for marine robotic systems. This package provides standardized message types for hydraulic control, propulsion, and I/O systems commonly found on ROVs (Remotely Operated Vehicles) and other underwater and autonomous ocean platforms.

Overview

RoShip (Robotic Ship) is a collection of standards and supporting software packages for operating robotic systems in marine environments. This interface package contains message definitions organized into domain-specific sub-packages:

• hydraulic_interfaces - Messages for hydraulic valve control systems
• io_interfaces - Messages and services for analog outputs, digital outputs, relay control, raw sensor data, and channel triggering
• propulsion_interfaces - Messages for thruster and propulsion systems

Design Philosophy

These messages follow ROS2 best practices and conventions:

• Generality: Messages support a wide variety of hardware implementations
• Flexibility: Variable-length arrays allow representation of systems with any number of actuators
• Standards Compliance: Follows ROS2 Message Conventions
• Simplicity: Core messages are intentionally minimal; hardware-specific metadata should be published separately

Installation

From Source

cd ~/ros2_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/k2oceanic/roship_interfaces.git
cd ~/ros2_ws
colcon build --packages-select roship_interfaces
source install/setup.bash

Package Structure

roship_interfaces/
├── hydraulic_interfaces/
│   ├── msg/
│   │   ├── Valve.msg
│   │   ├── ValveStamped.msg
│   │   └── ValvePack.msg
│   ├── CMakeLists.txt
│   └── package.xml
├── io_interfaces/
│   ├── msg/
│   │   ├── RawAnalog.msg
│   │   ├── RawAnalogArray.msg
│   │   ├── RawAnalogStamped.msg
│   │   ├── RawDigital.msg
│   │   ├── RawDigitalArray.msg
│   │   ├── RawDigitalStamped.msg
│   │   └── RawPacket.msg
│   ├── srv/
│   │   └── ChannelTrigger.srv
│   ├── CMakeLists.txt
│   └── package.xml
├── propulsion_interfaces/
│   ├── msg/
│   │   ├── Thrust.msg
│   │   ├── ThrustStamped.msg
│   │   └── ThrustArray.msg
│   ├── CMakeLists.txt
│   └── package.xml
├── LICENSE
└── README.md

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

When proposing new messages or modifications:

1. Ensure compatibility with existing ROS2 conventions
2. Maintain hardware-agnostic design where possible
3. Document design decisions and use cases
4. Update this README with message documentation

License

This package is licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. See LICENSE for details.

Maintainer

• Kristopher Krasnosky - support@seaward.science

Version

1.0.0 - Initial stable release

Credits

Developed by Seaward Science.

Authors

• Dr. Kristopher Krasnosky (lead software engineer)
• Jake Bonney

Citation