Installation

• Default installation instructions are available at the quick-start page.
• ROS-users might want to take a look at the orocos_toolchain_ros stack.

How does the Orocos Toolchain work?

The toolchain is a set of libraries and programs that you must compile on your computer in order to build Orocos applications. In case you are on a Linux system, you can use the bootstrap.sh script, which does this for you.

After installation, these libraries are available:

• orocos-rtt : The component run-time library
• orocos-ocl-* : The standard Orocos components for setting up applications
• typelib and utilmm : Helper libraries for the tools.

These programs are available:

• autoproj : building and updating the toolchain
• typegen : generates typekits from classes and structs, which tell Orocos which data you want to communicate. Orocos already knows the basic C/C++ data types, you can use this tool to 'transport' any class or struct between components.
• orogen : create components that can be deployed either statically (through oroGen itself) or dynamically by using the deployer. Creating components using oroGen requires a very minimal knowledge of the RTT API, and is therefore suited for new users.
• deployer : creates dynamic deployments (loads components from an XML file) + console
• taskbrowser : console that connects to running applications
• rttlua: alternative Lua-scriptable taskbrowser
• cdeployer: creates dynamic deployments (without console)

Creating components

Orocos component libraries are living in packages. You need to understand the concept of packages in Orocos in order to be able to create and use components. See more about Component Packages

Your primary reading material for creating components is the Orocos Components Manual. A component is compiled into a shared library (.so or .dll).

Use the orocreate-pkg script to create a new package that contains a ready-to-compile Orocos component, which you can extend or play with. See Using orocreate-pkg for all details. (Script available from Toolchain version 2.1.1 on).

Alternatively, the oroGen tool allows you to create components with a minimum knowledge of the RTT API.

Creating applications

The DeploymentComponent loads XML files or scripts and dynamically creates, configures and starts components in a single process. See the Orocos Deployment Manual

The TaskBrowser is our primary interface with a running application. See the Orocos TaskBrowser Manual

Upgrading from RTT 1.x

Take a loot at the Upgrading from RTT 1.x to 2.0 webpage.

Ugrading from Toolchain 2.x to Toolchain 2.8.x

Tips and trics can be found at the Upgrading from Toolchain 2.x to Toolchain 2.8.x, especially for ROS integrated installations with ROSBUILD and CATKIN.