Genesys vs ROS2

A comparison between genesys and ros2 workflows

Genesys vs ROS 2: CLI & Developer Flow

Genesys is an opinionated, developer-friendly framework for ROS 2. It wraps ROS 2’s powerful but verbose toolchain in a streamlined CLI and decorator-based API, removing boilerplate while keeping full ROS 2 compatibility.

This page compares the developer and CLI workflow in vanilla ROS 2 vs Genesys.

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🚀 1. Creating a Workspace

ROS 2

# Create workspace
mkdir -p my_ws/src
cd my_ws

# Create a package
ros2 pkg create --build-type ament_python my_pkg

# Build
colcon build

Genesys

# Create a new workspace
genesys new my_project
cd my_project

# Create a package with an initial node
genesys make pkg my_pkg --with-node

# Build and auto-source environment
genesys build

✅ Genesys scaffolds a full workspace (src/, launch/, config/, sim/, tests/, etc.) automatically.

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📝 2. Creating a Node

ROS 2 (Python)

import rclpy
from rclpy.node import Node
from std_msgs.msg import String

class MinimalPublisher(Node):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__('minimal_publisher')
        self.publisher_ = self.create_publisher(String, 'topic', 10)
        self.timer = self.create_timer(1.0, self.timer_callback)

    def timer_callback(self):
        msg = String()
        msg.data = "Hello, ROS 2"
        self.publisher_.publish(msg)
        self.get_logger().info(f"Publishing: {msg.data}")

def main(args=None):
    rclpy.init(args=args)
    rclpy.spin(MinimalPublisher())
    rclpy.shutdown()

Genesys (Python)

from genesys.decorators import node, timer, publisher
from genesys.helpers import spin_node
from std_msgs.msg import String

@node("demo_publisher")
class DemoPublisher:
    def __init__(self):
        self.counter = 0

    @timer(1.0)
    @publisher("chatter", String)
    def publish_message(self):
        msg = String()
        msg.data = f"Hello from Genesys! #{self.counter}"
        self.logger.info(f"Publishing: {msg.data}")
        self.counter += 1
        return msg

def main(args=None):
    spin_node(DemoPublisher, args)

✅ Genesys decorators remove create_publisher/create_timer boilerplate. ✅ spin_node() auto-handles init/spin/shutdown.

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▶️ 3. Running Nodes

ROS 2

ros2 run my_pkg my_node

Genesys

genesys run my_node

✅ Genesys auto-detects the package containing the node. ✅ Supports simpler remapping:

genesys run my_node --remap chatter:=/robot/chatter

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🛠️ 4. Building Packages

ROS 2

colcon build --packages-select my_pkg

Genesys

genesys build --packages my_pkg

✅ Genesys uses symlink install by default. ✅ Handles sourcing & environment cleanup.

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🚦 5. Launching Nodes

ROS 2

ros2 launch my_pkg my_launch.py

Genesys

# Launch one package
genesys launch my_pkg

# Launch all default.launch.py files
genesys launch --all

✅ Genesys auto-generates default.launch.py. ✅ Launch multiple packages with a single command.

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📡 6. Inspecting the Graph

ROS 2

ros2 node list
ros2 topic list
ros2 service call /add_two_ints example_interfaces/srv/AddTwoInts "{a: 2, b: 3}"

Genesys

genesys node list
genesys topic list
genesys service call /add_two_ints example_interfaces/srv/AddTwoInts "2 3"

✅ Genesys mirrors ros2 CLI but adds:

• Auto-sourcing of environment

• Better logging & error messages

• Extra helpers (genesys topic record, genesys param load, etc.)

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🕹️ 7. Simulation

ROS 2

gazebo --verbose worlds/my_world.world

Genesys

genesys sim my_world.world

✅ Genesys auto-detects:

• Worlds from sim/worlds/

• Models from sim/models/

• Generates temporary launch files for Gazebo.

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📊 8. Development Flow Summary

Task	ROS 2 CLI	Genesys CLI
Create workspace	mkdir src && colcon	genesys new my_project
Create package	ros2 pkg create	genesys make pkg my_pkg
Create node	Manual boilerplate	genesys make node my_node --pkg my_pkg
Build	colcon build	genesys build
Run node	ros2 run	genesys run
Launch	ros2 launch	genesys launch
Node list/info	ros2 node ...	genesys node ...
Topic list/echo/pub	ros2 topic ...	genesys topic ...
Service call/find	ros2 service ...	genesys service ...
Actions	ros2 action ...	genesys action ...
Parameters	ros2 param ...	genesys param ...
Simulation	manual gazebo launch	genesys sim

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✅ Key Takeaways

• ROS 2: Flexible, low-level, verbose.

• Genesys: Opinionated, batteries-included, reduces setup/boilerplate.

• Both: Fully compatible Genesys runs on ROS 2, not instead of it.

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