Hello Clearpath

A minimal "hello world" demo that publishes a greeting and drives the robot in a small square. Use this to verify your environment is set up correctly before trying more complex demos.

The package ships two interchangeable implementations — one in C++ (hello_square_cpp) and one in Python (hello_square_py) — so it can also serve as a starting template for new demos in either language.

Source: demos/hello_clearpath/

Supported platforms

• Husky A300, Jackal, Dingo, Ridgeback, Warthog (real or simulated)
• Any platform exposing /cmd_vel

Example robot configuration

An example robot.yaml is shipped with the demo as a reference for the clearpath_config that was used to test it. Update to match your robot before deploying.

Build

This demo is built in its own dedicated workspace. See Workspaces for the general pattern.

Clone the repository into a fresh hello_clearpath_ws workspace, install only this demo's dependencies, and build only this package and the packages it depends on:

mkdir -p ~/hello_clearpath_ws/src
cd ~/hello_clearpath_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/clearpathrobotics/clearpath_community_demos.git

cd ~/hello_clearpath_ws
rosdep install \
    --from-paths src/clearpath_community_demos/demos/hello_clearpath \
    --ignore-src -r -y
colcon build --symlink-install --packages-up-to hello_clearpath
source install/setup.bash

Run

The launch file reads robot.yaml from the Clearpath setup path (/etc/clearpath/ by default), pushes the demo node under the namespace declared there, and forwards use_sim_time so the demo works correctly in both simulation and on a real robot.

With your robot running and a /cmd_vel consumer active:

source ~/hello_clearpath_ws/install/setup.bash

# C++ implementation (default), real robot
ros2 launch hello_clearpath hello_clearpath.launch.py

# Python implementation
ros2 launch hello_clearpath hello_clearpath.launch.py language:=python

# Simulation
ros2 launch hello_clearpath hello_clearpath.launch.py use_sim_time:=true

# Custom Clearpath setup path
ros2 launch hello_clearpath hello_clearpath.launch.py \
    setup_path:=/path/to/your/clearpath/setup

The robot will drive a 1 m × 1 m square and log a message at each corner.