rosbag

Rosbag is a file format and set of command-line tools for recording and playing back data in the Robot Operating System (ROS). It is designed to capture and store ROS messages, which are the primary means of communication between nodes in a ROS system. Rosbag files are typically used for logging sensor data, debugging, and testing purposes.

The rosbag command-line tool allows users to record data from one or more ROS topics into a single file. This file can then be played back at a later time, either in real-time or at a modified speed. The tool supports various options for filtering and manipulating the recorded data, such as specifying the topics to record, setting the recording duration, and compressing the data.

Rosbag files are stored in a custom binary format, which is optimized for efficient storage and retrieval of ROS messages. The format supports multiple compression algorithms, including bz2 and lz4, to reduce the file size and improve performance.

In addition to the rosbag command-line tool, there are also several libraries and tools available for working with rosbag files in other programming languages, such as Python and C++. These libraries provide APIs for reading and writing rosbag files, as well as for manipulating the recorded data.

Overall, rosbag is a powerful and flexible tool for working with ROS data, and is widely used in the robotics community for a variety of applications.