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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
Deprecated commands are
ros2 control configure_controller
ros2 control configure_start_controller
ros2 control load_configure_controller
ros2 control load_start_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