RoboClaw + ROS 2 Jazzy Binaries (Debian 13)

This repo is intended to publish prebuilt binaries so other people don’t need to recompile ROS 2 Jazzy from source (especially on Raspberry Pi / aarch64).

It is designed around GitHub Releases (simple, public, no custom apt repo required).

What this repo publishes

Two separate artifacts per platform (OS+arch):

1. ROS 2 Jazzy base install (built from ros2_jazzy source workspace)

• Example release asset name:
  • ros2-jazzy-debian13-aarch64.tar.zst

2. Robot app overlay install (this project’s overlay workspace, e.g. roboclaw_diffdrive)

• Example release asset name:
  • roboclaw-ws-debian13-aarch64.tar.zst

Why two artifacts?

• People may want to reuse the ROS 2 base for other projects.
• Your robot app can update independently of the base.

Supported targets

• Debian 13 (“trixie”) only
• One of:
  • aarch64 (Raspberry Pi 5)
  • x86_64 (desktop/server)

Binaries are NOT portable across architectures; you must build/publish separately for each.

Install (typical user)

1) Install ROS 2 Jazzy base (from a release asset)

Pick a destination (recommended):

• System-wide: /opt/ros/jazzy (requires root)

Then:

sudo mkdir -p /opt/ros
sudo tar --zstd -xvf ros2-jazzy-debian13-aarch64.tar.zst -C /opt/ros
# result should be: /opt/ros/jazzy/install/setup.bash

source /opt/ros/jazzy/install/setup.bash
ros2 --help

2) Install the robot app overlay (from a release asset)

Pick a destination:

• System-wide: /opt/roboclaw_ws

sudo mkdir -p /opt/roboclaw_ws
sudo tar --zstd -xvf roboclaw-ws-debian13-aarch64.tar.zst -C /opt/roboclaw_ws

source /opt/ros/jazzy/install/setup.bash
source /opt/roboclaw_ws/install/setup.bash

ros2 pkg list | grep roboclaw

How to build + package (maintainers)

This repo contains helper scripts under scripts/.

Package ROS 2 Jazzy base

On the machine where you built ROS 2 Jazzy from source:

./scripts/package_ros2_jazzy.sh --ros2-src ~/ros2_jazzy --out dist

Package robot overlay

On the machine where you built your overlay:

./scripts/package_roboclaw_ws.sh --ws ~/ros2_ws --out dist

Checksums

./scripts/make_checksums.sh dist

Notes / licensing

• ROS 2 packages are generally permissively licensed (many are Apache-2.0), but your binary bundle will also include third-party dependencies. Before publishing publicly, review licensing if you’re unsure.
• This repo does not include vendor RoboClaw docs or SDK zips.

Project context

The RoboClaw-specific app and learning notes live in your development workspace:

• ~/ros2_ws/ROBOCLAW_ROS2_STATUS.md