Splinter: A ROS2 Terminal User Interface

Splinter is a Terminal User Interface (TUI) for ROS2. It provides a keyboard-driven way to interact with ROS2 topics and nodes from your terminal.

Features

Category	Features
Topics	List, publish, echo, and monitor message frequency
Nodes	List active nodes
Plots	Multi-line plots, frequency plots

Installation Guide

Manual Installation

1. Set up ros2_rust
   Follow the installation instructions for ros2_rust.

2. Clone the Splinter repository
   Run the following command to clone the Splinter repository:

   git clone https://github.com/TonyWelte/splinter.git

3. Build the project
   Use colcon to build Splinter:

   colcon build --packages-up-to splinter

Quick Installation

Warning

Review the script before running it. It may prompt for your password to install dependencies. On some systems, it requires running pip with the --break-system-packages flag.

To quickly install Splinter, download and execute the installation script:

curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/TonyWelte/splinter/refs/heads/main/tools/splinter_install.sh
chmod +x splinter_install.sh
./splinter_install.sh

What the Script Does:

• Verifies that a ROS2 environment is sourced.
• Installs Rust (if not already installed) and required system dependencies.
• Creates a splinter_ws ROS2 workspace, sets up ros2_rust and Splinter, and builds the project.

Roadmap

Current Priorities

Feature	Notes
Parameters (List, Get, Set)	Full parameter management
GenericMessage (non-copying)	Preparing for MCAP and Foxglove bridge support

Upcoming Features

Feature	Notes
New Plots: Delay plot	Visualize message delays
New Plots: Bitrate plot	Monitor topic bandwidth
Message Widget: Limit array/sequence sizes	Prevent UI overload
Message Widget: Folding	Collapse/expand message sections

Long Term Plan

Feature	Notes
MCAP Reader	Navigate and visualize MCAP files
New Connections: Foxglove bridge	Remote visualization support
New Connections: Rosbridge	Web-based ROS2 interaction
New Connections: Multi-connection support	Manage multiple ROS2 connections simultaneously
Services	List and call ROS2 services
Grid view	Customizable widget layouts

Why Rust ?

I picked Rust to learn the language, period. Is it a good choice for this project? Absolutely not.

As of now, the dynamic message support Splinter needs to function isn’t even merged into ros2_rust. If you’re writing a TUI for ROS2, use Python. Save yourself the trouble.

Don’t get me wrong, Rust is a fantastic language. But wrestling with static types for a tool that has to handle messages whose types are only known at runtime? That’s just masochism.

Where Does the Name Come From?

Splinter is named after the wise rat sensei from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It's a nod to both the TUI library Ratatui (symbolized by a rat) and ROS2 (symbolized by turtles).