The hebiros_node and hebiros_gazebo_plugin codes should support the following interaction between the ROS Time API and Simulation Time.
In order for a ROS node to use simulation time according to the /clock topic, the /use_sim_time parameter must be set to true before the node is initialized. This can be done in a launchfile or from the command line.
It's worth mentioning that while "roslaunch does not guarantee any particular order to the startup of nodes", parameters set in a .launch file "will be stored on the Parameter Server before any nodes are launched."
If the /use_sim_time parameter is set, the ROS Time API will return time=0 until it has received a value from the /clock topic. Then, the time will only be updated on receipt of a message from the /clock topic, and will stay constant between updates.
For calculations of time durations when using simulation time, clients should always wait until the first non-zero time value has been received before starting, because the first simulation time value from /clock topic may be a high value.
(from http://wiki.ros.org/Clock#Using_Simulation_Time_from_the_.2BAC8-clock_Topic)
The hebiros_node and hebiros_gazebo_plugin codes should support the following interaction between the ROS Time API and Simulation Time.
It's worth mentioning that while "roslaunch does not guarantee any particular order to the startup of nodes", parameters set in a .launch file "will be stored on the Parameter Server before any nodes are launched."
(from http://wiki.ros.org/Clock#Using_Simulation_Time_from_the_.2BAC8-clock_Topic)