ROS2 ModuleNotFoundError “No module named ‘configs’”. Cannot import modules into node

Question

I am working on a ROS2 project and encountering an issue where my node cannot import modules from the configs package. Below is a detailed description of the problem, including the structure of my project, the error message, and steps I've already taken to troubleshoot.

test_ws/
├── src/
│   └── test_package/
│       ├── configs/
│       │   ├── __init__.py
│       │   └── global_settings.py
│       ├── test_package/
│       │   ├── __init__.py
│       │   ├── gps_path_planning_node.py
│       │   └── scripts/
│       │       ├── __init__.py
│       │       └── utils.py
│       ├── package.xml
│       ├── setup.cfg
│       └── setup.py

When I run the node using ros2 launch test_package simulation_launch.py, I encounter the following error:

[gps_path_planning_node-5] Traceback (most recent call last):
[gps_path_planning_node-5]   File "/home/hiber/Desktop/test_ws/install/test_package/lib/test_package/gps_path_planning_node", line 33, in <module>
[gps_path_planning_node-5]     sys.exit(load_entry_point('test-package==0.0.0', 'console_scripts', 'gps_path_planning_node')())
...
[gps_path_planning_node-5] ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'configs'

Code Snippet (gps_path_planning_node.py):

from rclpy.node import Node
import rclpy
from configs import global_settings
from test_package.scripts.utils import *

class GPSPathPlanningNode(Node):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__('gps_path_planning_node')
        self.max_speed = EGO_VEHICLE_MAX_SPEED
        self._logger.info('Successfully launched!')

def main(args=None):
    rclpy.init(args=args)
    node = GPSPathPlanningNode()
    rclpy.spin(node)
    node.destroy_node()
    rclpy.shutdown()

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

The contents of setup.py are as follows:

import os
from setuptools import setup

PACKAGE_NAME = 'test_package'

def generate_data_files(share_path, data_files_path):
    data_files_temp = []

    for path, _, files in os.walk(data_files_path):
        data_file = (
            os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(share_path)) + '/' + path, [
                os.path.join(path, file) for file in files if not file.startswith('.')
            ]
        )

        data_files_temp.append(data_file)

    return data_files_temp

data_files = []

data_files.append(('share/ament_index/resource_index/packages', ['resource/' + PACKAGE_NAME]))
data_files.append(('share/' + PACKAGE_NAME, ['package.xml']))

data_files += generate_data_files('share/' + PACKAGE_NAME + '/configs/', 'configs/')
data_files += generate_data_files('share/' + PACKAGE_NAME + '/launch/', 'launch/')
data_files += generate_data_files('share/' + PACKAGE_NAME + '/resource/', 'resource/')

setup(
    name=PACKAGE_NAME, 
    version='0.0.0', 
    packages=[PACKAGE_NAME], 
    data_files=data_files, 
    install_requires=['setuptools'], 
    zip_safe=True, 
    maintainer='hiber', 
    maintainer_email='...', 
    description='TODO: Package description', 
    license='TODO: License declaration', 
    tests_require=['pytest'], 
    entry_points={
        'console_scripts': [
            # 'ackermann_keyboard_teleop_node = test_package.ackermann_keyboard_teleop_node:main', 
            'gps_path_planning_node = test_package.gps_path_planning_node:main', 
            'projection_weight_matrices_node = test_package.projection_weight_matrices_node:main', 
            'surround_view_node = test_package.surround_view_node:main', 
        ], 
    }, 
)

Environment Details:

1. ROS2 Distribution: Humble
2. Python Version: 3.10
3. OS: Ubuntu 22.04

Request for Help: I would appreciate any guidance on resolving this issue. Specifically:

1. Why might the module still not be found despite being present in the installed package?
2. Are there additional configuration steps I may have missed?

Thank you!

Steps Taken So Far:

1. Moved global_settings.py: I moved global_settings.py to the same directory as gps_path_planning_node.py and updated the import statement to from test_package.global_settings import *. However, other modules from other folders are not found, such as utils.py from scripts/
2. Checked setup.py: Verified that setup.py includes all necessary packages (test_package and sub-packages like scripts).
3. Rebuilt the Project: Ran colcon clean followed by colcon build --symlink-install and sourced the workspace.
4. Tested Import Locally: Running python3 -c "from test_package.global_settings import *; print('Import successful')" works without errors.
5. I read somewhere that the path install/test_package/lib/python3.10/site-packages/test_package/ should contain the other modules (the same configs/ with global_settings.py and scripts/ with utils.py). Is this really the case?
6. The __init__.py file is in all directories.
7. Tried all kinds of imports (relative, absolute, dynamic)

Despite the first four steps, the error continues to occur when running the node via ROS2.