[ros-users] [Orocos-Dev] problems running recent KDL versions with ROS

[Wim Meeussen]

Marcus,

> we are having problems running recent versions of KDL with ROS.
> Because KDL is locked under ROS, we had to come up with other ways to change
> or extend existing KDL code.
[...]
> We also tried to "overlay" the KDL package with a new version by changing
> the ROS_PACKAGE_PATH. But this does not work for prebuild ROS parts. And if
> we would build ROS from source, we probably will run into problems with ROS
> parts relying on old versions of KDL.

You should be able to overlay on any set of ROS packages, even if you
use precompiled Debian packages. Just make sure that your own version
of KDL comes first in your ROS_PACKAGE_PATH.

If you overlay on the Debian packages, you need to make sure that the
version of KDL you overlay is binary compatible with the version of
KDL in ROS.  I think it's likely that this option won't work.

If you compile ROS from source, your version of KDL only needs to be
API compatible for the part of the KDL API that is used by other ROS
packages.  If you're not modifying any core KDL classes, then this
option will work fine for you.  As Ruben mentioned, you probably want
to overlay with the KDL package available from their git repo.

Wim

-- 
--
Wim Meeussen
Willow Garage Inc.
<http://www.willowgarage.com)