The format of this book is intended for you to follow along and perform the instructions as the information is provided. You will need a computer with Ubuntu 14.04 (Trusty Tahr) installed. Other Ubuntu versions and Linux distributions may work as well as Mac OS X, Android, and Windows but documentation for these versions will need to reference the ROS wiki (http://wiki.ros.org/Distributions).

The version of ROS that this book was written around is Indigo Igloo, which is the current release recommended for stability. Its end of life is targeted for April 2019. Other versions of ROS may be used but are untested.

All the software used in this book is open source and freely available for download and use. Instructions to download the software are found in the chapter where the software is introduced. In Chapter 1, Getting Started with ROS, instructions are given to download and set up the ROS software environment.

Our preferred method to download software is the use of Debian packages. Where no Debian packages exist, we refer to downloading the software from repositories such as GitHub.

Gazebo simulation performs intensive graphics processing and the use of a dedicated graphics card is advised but not required.

Peripheral devices such as 3D sensors, Xbox, or PS3 controllers, Arduino or Raspberry Pi controller boards, and Android mobile devices are optional equipment.