Python for ROS robot_controll_class, init_node, why?

Hi.
i am trying to get my head around why is there a
def init
rospy.init_node(‘robot_control_node’, anonymous=True)
is it common practice to add this inside a class, as if i use the init node inside my new program when i try and call the class, it conflicts as i think you can only have one node definition?

This is the class code

#!/usr/bin/env python

import rospy
from geometry_msgs.msg import Twist
from sensor_msgs.msg import LaserScan
from nav_msgs.msg import Odometry
from tf.transformations import euler_from_quaternion, quaternion_from_euler
import time
import math


class RobotControl():

    def __init__(self):
        rospy.init_node('robot_control_node', anonymous=True)
        self.vel_publisher = rospy.Publisher('/cmd_vel', Twist, queue_size=1)
        self.summit_vel_publisher = rospy.Publisher('/summit_xl_control/cmd_vel', Twist, queue_size=1)
        self.laser_subscriber = rospy.Subscriber(
            '/kobuki/laser/scan', LaserScan, self.laser_callback)
        self.summit_laser_subscriber = rospy.Subscriber(
            '/hokuyo_base/scan', LaserScan, self.summit_laser_callback)
        self.odom_sub = rospy.Subscriber ('/odom', Odometry, self.odom_callback)
        self.cmd = Twist()
        self.laser_msg = LaserScan()
        self.summit_laser_msg = LaserScan()
        self.roll = 0.0
        self.pitch = 0.0
        self.yaw = 0.0
        self.ctrl_c = False
        self.rate = rospy.Rate(10)
        rospy.on_shutdown(self.shutdownhook)

    def publish_once_in_cmd_vel(self):
        """
        This is because publishing in topics sometimes fails the first time you publish.
        In continuos publishing systems there is no big deal but in systems that publish only
        once it IS very important.
        """
        while not self.ctrl_c:
            connections = self.vel_publisher.get_num_connections()
            summit_connections = self.summit_vel_publisher.get_num_connections()
            if connections > 0 or summit_connections > 0:
                self.vel_publisher.publish(self.cmd)
                self.summit_vel_publisher.publish(self.cmd)
                #rospy.loginfo("Cmd Published")
                break
            else:
                self.rate.sleep()

    def shutdownhook(self):
        # works better than the rospy.is_shutdown()
        self.ctrl_c = True

    def laser_callback(self, msg):
        self.laser_msg = msg

    def summit_laser_callback(self, msg):
        self.summit_laser_msg = msg

    def odom_callback(self, msg):
        orientation_q = msg.pose.pose.orientation
        orientation_list = [orientation_q.x, orientation_q.y, orientation_q.z, orientation_q.w]
        (self.roll, self.pitch, self.yaw) = euler_from_quaternion (orientation_list)

    def get_laser(self, pos):
        time.sleep(1)
        return self.laser_msg.ranges[pos]

    def get_laser_summit(self, pos):
        time.sleep(1)
        return self.summit_laser_msg.ranges[pos]

    def get_front_laser(self):
        time.sleep(1)
        return self.laser_msg.ranges[360]

    def get_laser_full(self):
        time.sleep(1)
        return self.laser_msg.ranges

    def stop_robot(self):
        #rospy.loginfo("shutdown time! Stop the robot")
        self.cmd.linear.x = 0.0
        self.cmd.angular.z = 0.0
        self.publish_once_in_cmd_vel()

    def move_straight(self):

        # Initilize velocities
        self.cmd.linear.x = 0.5
        self.cmd.linear.y = 0
        self.cmd.linear.z = 0
        self.cmd.angular.x = 0
        self.cmd.angular.y = 0
        self.cmd.angular.z = 0

        # Publish the velocity
        self.publish_once_in_cmd_vel()

    def move_straight_time(self, motion, speed, time):

        # Initilize velocities
        self.cmd.linear.y = 0
        self.cmd.linear.z = 0
        self.cmd.angular.x = 0
        self.cmd.angular.y = 0
        self.cmd.angular.z = 0

        if motion == "forward":
            self.cmd.linear.x = speed
        elif motion == "backward":
            self.cmd.linear.x = - speed

        i = 0
        # loop to publish the velocity estimate, current_distance = velocity * (t1 - t0)
        while (i <= time):

            # Publish the velocity
            self.vel_publisher.publish(self.cmd)
            self.summit_vel_publisher.publish(self.cmd)
            i += 0.1
            self.rate.sleep()

        # set velocity to zero to stop the robot
        self.stop_robot()

        s = "Moved robot " + motion + " for " + str(time) + " seconds"
        return s


    def turn(self, clockwise, speed, time):

        # Initilize velocities
        self.cmd.linear.x = 0
        self.cmd.linear.y = 0
        self.cmd.linear.z = 0
        self.cmd.angular.x = 0
        self.cmd.angular.y = 0

        if clockwise == "clockwise":
            self.cmd.angular.z = -speed
        else:
            self.cmd.angular.z = speed

        i = 0
        # loop to publish the velocity estimate, current_distance = velocity * (t1 - t0)
        
        while (i <= time):

            # Publish the velocity
            self.vel_publisher.publish(self.cmd)
            self.summit_vel_publisher.publish(self.cmd)
            i += 0.1
            self.rate.sleep()

        # set velocity to zero to stop the robot
        self.stop_robot()

        s = "Turned robot " + clockwise + " for " + str(time) + " seconds"
        return s

    def rotate(self, degrees):
        time.sleep(1)
        target_rad = (degrees * math.pi/180) + self.yaw
        
        if target_rad < (- math.pi):
            target_rad = target_rad + (2 * math.pi)

        if target_rad > (math.pi):
            target_rad = target_rad - (2 * math.pi)
        
        while abs(target_rad - self.yaw) > 0.01:
            self.cmd.angular.z = 0.5 * (target_rad - self.yaw)
            self.vel_publisher.publish(self.cmd)
            self.rate.sleep()
        
        self.stop_robot()


if __name__ == '__main__':
    #rospy.init_node('robot_control_node', anonymous=True)
    robotcontrol_object = RobotControl()
    try:
        robotcontrol_object.move_straight()

    except rospy.ROSInterruptException:
        pass

Hi @ziga.rupret,

  • def __init___ is the code that runs when a Python class is instantiated (when an instance of the class is created).
  • rospy.init_node is required for any ROS Python node (you will learn more about this if you take the Basic ROS course).
  • Usually you “init” a node at the beginning of the code, so the def __init__ of a class is a good place to do that.