Install and connect

Build the standalone Marty V2 driver and read its accelerometer. Use Ubuntu 24.04, ROS 2 Jazzy, Python 3.12 and Bash.

Install and build

Install ROS 2 Jazzy using the Ubuntu installation instructions, then install the development tools: 

sudo apt install ros-dev-tools python3-venv python3-pip
sudo rosdep init  # Once per machine; skip if already initialized.
rosdep update

Clone into any directory. All commands below run from the repository root: 

git clone https://github.com/robotical/marty-ros2.git
cd marty-ros2
source /opt/ros/jazzy/setup.bash
/usr/bin/python3 -m venv --system-site-packages .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
python -m pip install -r requirements.txt colcon-common-extensions
rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src -r -y
python "$(command -v colcon)" build --base-paths src --symlink-install

The virtual environment includes the system ROS packages and MartyPy. Run colcon explicitly through the active Python as shown above. A system colcon executable otherwise builds the driver with system Python, even while the venv is active. The generated driver executable keeps that build-time interpreter.

Machine configuration

Create the local configuration files once. Both are ignored by Git: 

cp -n config/machine.env.example config/machine.env
cp -n config/robots.yaml.example config/robots.yaml

config/machine.env contains: 

ROS_SETUP_FILE=/opt/ros/jazzy/setup.bash
ROS_DOMAIN_ID=0
MARTY_PYTHON_VENV="$MARTY_ROS_ROOT/.venv"
MARTY_ROS_ROBOTS_FILE="$MARTY_ROS_ROOT/config/robots.yaml"

scripts/setup_env.sh determines MARTY_ROS_ROOT from its own location, loads this file, activates the Python environment and sources ROS and the built workspace. It starts no node and opens no device connection.

The workspace defaults to the checkout. Set ROS_WORKSPACE if the project was built elsewhere, or change ROS_SETUP_FILE for another ROS installation path. Relative configuration paths are resolved from the checkout. Use the same ROS_DOMAIN_ID in every ROS terminal.

Robot connection

For USB, set config/robots.yaml to: 

martys:
  marty:
    method: usb
    locator: /dev/serial/by-id/REPLACE_WITH_MARTY_DEVICE
    auto_connect: false
    auto_reconnect: false
    subscribe_rate_hz: 10.0

Find the serial port with: 

ls -l /dev/serial/by-id/

If serial access is denied, add the Linux user to dialout, then log out and back in: 

sudo usermod -aG dialout "$USER"

For Wi-Fi, replace only method and locator inside the same entry: 

    method: wifi
    locator: 192.168.1.8

Set locator to Marty's actual IP address or hostname. Marty must already be connected to the network. Wi-Fi setup and Find IP address cover the robot's network settings.

Packaged defaults are in src/marty_bringup/config/marty.yaml. The selected robots.yaml entry overrides those values; explicit launch arguments override both. auto_connect: false keeps connection manual; auto_reconnect: false keeps reconnection manual.

Start the driver

In Terminal 1, from the repository root: 

source scripts/setup_env.sh
ros2 launch marty_bringup bringup.launch.py namespace:=marty

Keep this terminal running. The marty entry selects the connection and creates /marty/marty_driver. No connection or movement starts yet.

Connect and read acceleration

In Terminal 2, from the repository root: 

source scripts/setup_env.sh
ros2 service call /marty/connect std_srvs/srv/Trigger '{}'
ros2 topic echo /marty/imu/data_raw --field linear_acceleration --qos-reliability best_effort

The service should return success: true. MartyPy starts telemetry on connection. The echo displays x, y and z in m/s², including gravity. Move Marty gently to see the values change.

Stop the echo with Ctrl+C. Check connection state and the running graph: 

ros2 topic echo /marty/status --once --qos-durability transient_local
ros2 node info /marty/marty_driver
ros2 topic list -t

If no readings appear, check connected, telemetry_fresh and last_error on the status topic. The driver must be running, the connection must be reachable, and measurement subscribers must use best-effort QoS.

Disconnect

In Terminal 2: 

ros2 service call /marty/disconnect std_srvs/srv/Trigger '{}'

Then Ctrl+C in Terminal 1 stops the driver.

Next: Topics, services and movement.

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