Eight Vectors Studio

Connect to ROS 2 systems via rosbridge WebSocket protocol directly from VS Code. Visualize topics, call services, and interact with ROS 2 nodes without leaving your development environment.

🚀 Features

Core Functionality

• ROS 2 Entity Discovery - Browse nodes, topics, services, publishers, and subscribers in a tree view
• Topic Subscriptions - Subscribe/unsubscribe to ROS 2 topics with real-time message display
• WebSocket Connection - Connect to ROS 2 systems via rosbridge WebSocket protocol
• Entity Inspection - View detailed information about topics, services, and actions with type definitions

Advanced Visualization

• Occupancy Grid Maps - 2D map visualization with zoom and pan
• Laser Scan Data - Real-time laser scan point cloud display
• URDF Robot Models - 3D robot visualization with proper coordinate transformations
• Multiple view modes for all visualizations:
  • Graphical - Interactive visual representation
  • Raw Data - JSON/XML data with syntax highlighting
  • Both - Side-by-side graphical and raw data views
• Copy to clipboard functionality for raw data
• Improved scroll handling for streaming data visualization

Developer Tools

• Auto-reconnection - Automatic reconnection to rosbridge on disconnect
• Configurable Connection - Custom WebSocket URL configuration
• Node Parameter Configuration - View and modify ROS 2 node parameters in real-time
• Bag Recorder Panel - Select topics and generate ROS 2 bag record commands
• Message/Service/Action Inspector - Generate JSON templates for ROS 2 message, service, and action types

📋 Requirements

• Visual Studio Code 1.93.0 or higher
• ROS 2 system with rosbridge_server running
• WebSocket connection to rosbridge (default: ws://localhost:9090)

🔧 Installation

From VS Code Marketplace

1. Open VS Code
2. Go to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X)
3. Search for "Eight Vectors Studio"
4. Click Install

⚙️ Configuration

Extension Settings

Available Commands

📖 Usage

Getting Started

1. Start rosbridge on your ROS 2 system:

   ros2 launch rosbridge_server rosbridge_websocket_launch.xml
   

2. Connect to ROS 2:

   • Click the Eight Vectors icon in the activity bar
   • Click "Connect" or use Command Palette: Connect to Remote
   • Default connection is ws://localhost:9090

   

3. Browse ROS 2 entities:

   • Expand the tree to see nodes, topics, and services
   • Right-click for context actions

   

Visualization Features

1. Subscribe to a topic - Right-click on a publisher topic in the ROS 2 tree view and select "Subscribe"
2. View modes - When visualization opens, choose between:
   • Graphical view for interactive visualization
   • Raw data view for inspecting message structure
   • Both mode for side-by-side comparison
3. Copy raw data - Click the "Copy" button in raw data view to copy the content to clipboard
4. 3D navigation (URDF models):
   • Mouse drag to rotate
   • Scroll to zoom
   • Right-click drag to pan

Publishing a Topic

Use the topic publishing flow to send messages with a JSON payload to a selected topic.

Calling a Service

Trigger a ROS 2 service call by providing the request JSON and view the response inline.

Supported Visualization Types

Node Parameter Configuration

The extension provides a comprehensive parameter configuration panel for ROS 2 nodes:

1. Access Parameters - Right-click on any node in the tree view and select "Get Parameters"
2. Features:
   • View all node parameters with their current values
   • Edit parameter values with type validation (bool, int, double, string, arrays)
   • Real-time parameter updates
   • Search and filter parameters by name
   • Manual mode for when rosapi is not available
   • Support for complex parameter types including arrays
3. Parameter Types Supported:
   • Boolean (dropdown selection)
   • Integer and Double (with automatic type preservation)
   • String values
   • Arrays (JSON format with validation)
   • Read-only display for complex objects

ROS 2 Bag Recorder

The Bag Recorder panel helps you create ROS 2 bag recording commands:

1. Add Topics - Right-click on any topic and select "Add to Bag Recorder"
2. Manage Topics:
   • View all selected topics with their message types
   • Remove individual topics or clear all
   • Topics are displayed with full path and message type information
3. Generate Command:
   • Click "Generate Command" to create the ros2 bag record command
   • Command includes all selected topics
   • Copy the generated command from the panel
   • Use the command on your ROS 2 machine to start recording
4. Access Panel - Use Command Palette: "Open Bag Recorder" or right-click topics

ROS 2 Message/Service/Action Type Inspector

The Message/Service/Action Type Inspector helps developers quickly generate JSON templates for ROS 2 types:

1. Access Inspector - Hover over any publisher, subscriber, or service in the tree view and click the info (ⓘ) icon
2. Features:
   • Automatically fetches type definition from ROS 2
   • Generates a complete JSON template with all fields
   • Supports nested message types
   • Handles arrays with example elements
   • Provides type information in comments
   • Includes default values for primitive types
3. Supported Types:
   • Messages - Generate templates for any ROS 2 message type (from publishers/subscribers)
   • Services - Separate templates for request and response
   • Actions - Templates for goal, result, and feedback (when available)
4. Usage:
   • Copy the generated template to use in service calls or message publishing
   • Modify the values as needed for your use case
   • The template includes all fields with appropriate default values

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🏢 About

This extension is developed and maintained by EightVectors.

🐛 Known Issues

• Large message rates may impact performance

📮 Support

For issues and feature requests, please use the GitHub issue tracker.