Do I need tf to do a simple publisher/subscriber?

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Hi,

After some time trying to find a way to simplify this code in the tutorials of simple publisher, that uses a string and turn it into a twist message but I couldn't. Here's my last effort on it.

That's why I ended up creating a modification of some of the codes that I found. Here is the subscriber and here is the publisher. I got it working, and now I ask myself: Is using tf necessary if the only thing I need is to send and receive data? (cmd_vel for the moment, although later laser_scan info, too). How can it be done? I'm at a loss here, don't know where to go from here (read a lot of documentation and finished the tutorials a couple of times)

Thanks,

Update: Awesome! I got the publisher running, but the subscriber (code here) is giving me some weird compilation problems: here.

@Lorenzo Riano: My basic concern was getting to work a code that sends some sort of speed information. Once that works, my next step is writing something similar with laser_scan. Ultimately, when I get speed control and laser_scan working, I plan to play with it and make a robot move around randomly in a .world map in Stage. So, basically, it all is for simulating it with stage, no real robot involved for now.

@Everybody: What's the best way to showcase that a publisher+subscriber works? Just by printing the message on screen once it gets to the subscriber? What if they don't fully work? Some sort of debugging available?