Command Line Interface

The following commands support interacting with the controller_manager from the command line. They are available through the standard ROS2 CLI framework.

Currently supported commands are

ros2 control list_controllers

ros2 control list_controller_types

ros2 control list_hardware_interfaces

ros2 control load_controller

ros2 control reload_controller_libraries

ros2 control set_controller_state

ros2 control switch_controllers

ros2 control unload_controller

list_controllers

$ ros2 control list_controllers -h
usage: ros2 control list_controllers [-h] [--spin-time SPIN_TIME] [-c CONTROLLER_MANAGER] [--include-hidden-nodes]

Output the list of loaded controllers, their type and status

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --spin-time SPIN_TIME
                        Spin time in seconds to wait for discovery (only applies when not using an already running daemon)
  -c CONTROLLER_MANAGER, --controller-manager CONTROLLER_MANAGER
                        Name of the controller manager ROS node
  --include-hidden-nodes
                        Consider hidden nodes as well

Example output:

$ ros2 control list_controllers
test_controller_name[test_controller]    active

list_controller_types

$ ros2 control list_controller_types -h
usage: ros2 control list_controller_types [-h] [--spin-time SPIN_TIME] [-c CONTROLLER_MANAGER] [--include-hidden-nodes]

Output the available controller types and their base classes

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --spin-time SPIN_TIME
                        Spin time in seconds to wait for discovery (only applies when not using an already running daemon)
  -c CONTROLLER_MANAGER, --controller-manager CONTROLLER_MANAGER
                        Name of the controller manager ROS node
  --include-hidden-nodes
                        Consider hidden nodes as well

Example output:

$ ros2 control list_controller_types
diff_drive_controller/DiffDriveController                              controller_interface::ControllerInterface
joint_state_controller/JointStateController                            controller_interface::ControllerInterface
joint_trajectory_controller/JointTrajectoryController                  controller_interface::ControllerInterface

list_hardware_interfaces

$ ros2 control list_hardware_interfaces -h
usage: ros2 control list_hardware_interfaces [-h] [--spin-time SPIN_TIME] [-c CONTROLLER_MANAGER] [--include-hidden-nodes]

Output the list of loaded controllers, their type and status

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --spin-time SPIN_TIME
                        Spin time in seconds to wait for discovery (only applies when not using an already running daemon)
  -c CONTROLLER_MANAGER, --controller-manager CONTROLLER_MANAGER
                        Name of the controller manager ROS node
  --include-hidden-nodes
                        Consider hidden nodes as well

$ ros2 control list_hardware_interfaces
command interfaces
  joint1/position [unclaimed]
  joint2/position [unclaimed]
state interfaces
  joint1/position
  joint2/position

load_controller

$ ros2 control load_controller -h
usage: ros2 control load_controller [-h] [--spin-time SPIN_TIME] [--set_state {configure,start}] [-c CONTROLLER_MANAGER] [--include-hidden-nodes] controller_name

Load a controller in a controller manager

positional arguments:
  controller_name       Name of the controller

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --spin-time SPIN_TIME
                        Spin time in seconds to wait for discovery (only applies when not using an already running daemon)
  --set_state {configure,start}
                        Set the state of the loaded controller
  -c CONTROLLER_MANAGER, --controller-manager CONTROLLER_MANAGER
                        Name of the controller manager ROS node
  --include-hidden-nodes
                        Consider hidden nodes as well

reload_controller_libraries

$ ros2 control reload_controller_libraries -h
usage: ros2 control reload_controller_libraries [-h] [--spin-time SPIN_TIME] [--force-kill] [-c CONTROLLER_MANAGER] [--include-hidden-nodes]

Reload controller libraries

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --spin-time SPIN_TIME
                        Spin time in seconds to wait for discovery (only applies when not using an already running daemon)
  --force-kill          Force stop of loaded controllers
  -c CONTROLLER_MANAGER, --controller-manager CONTROLLER_MANAGER
                        Name of the controller manager ROS node
  --include-hidden-nodes
                        Consider hidden nodes as well

set_controller_state

$ ros2 control set_controller_state -h
usage: ros2 control set_controller_state [-h] [--spin-time SPIN_TIME] [-c CONTROLLER_MANAGER] [--include-hidden-nodes] controller_name {configure,start,stop}

Adjust the state of the controller

positional arguments:
  controller_name       Name of the controller to be changed
  {configure,start,stop}
                        State in which the controller should be changed to

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --spin-time SPIN_TIME
                        Spin time in seconds to wait for discovery (only applies when not using an already running daemon)
  -c CONTROLLER_MANAGER, --controller-manager CONTROLLER_MANAGER
                        Name of the controller manager ROS node
  --include-hidden-nodes
                        Consider hidden nodes as well

switch_controllers

$ ros2 control switch_controllers -h
usage: ros2 control switch_controllers [-h] [--spin-time SPIN_TIME] [--stop [STOP [STOP ...]]] [--start [START [START ...]]] [--strict] [--start-asap] [--switch-timeout SWITCH_TIMEOUT] [-c CONTROLLER_MANAGER]
                                      [--include-hidden-nodes]

Switch controllers in a controller manager

optional arguments:
-h, --help            show this help message and exit
--spin-time SPIN_TIME
Spin time in seconds to wait for discovery (only applies when not using an already running daemon)
--stop [STOP [STOP ...]]
Name of the controllers to be stopped
--start [START [START ...]]
Name of the controllers to be started
--strict              Strict switch
--start-asap          Start asap controllers
--switch-timeout SWITCH_TIMEOUT
Timeout for switching controllers
-c CONTROLLER_MANAGER, --controller-manager CONTROLLER_MANAGER
Name of the controller manager ROS node
--include-hidden-nodes
                      Consider hidden nodes as well

unload_controller

$ ros2 control unload_controller -h
usage: ros2 control unload_controller [-h] [--spin-time SPIN_TIME] [-c CONTROLLER_MANAGER] [--include-hidden-nodes] controller_name

Unload a controller in a controller manager

positional arguments:
  controller_name       Name of the controller

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --spin-time SPIN_TIME
                        Spin time in seconds to wait for discovery (only applies when not using an already running daemon)
  -c CONTROLLER_MANAGER, --controller-manager CONTROLLER_MANAGER
                        Name of the controller manager ROS node
  --include-hidden-nodes
                        Consider hidden nodes as well