This package contains the necessary config files to get any of the many Interbotix X-Series arms working in Gazebo. Specifically, it contains the interbotix_texture.gazebo file which allows the black texture of the robotic arms to display properly (following the method explained here). It also contains YAML files with tuned PID gains for the arm and gripper joints so that ros_control can control the arms effectively. This package is meant to be used in conjunction with MoveIt via the FollowJointTrajectory interface.
As shown above, the interbotix_gazebo package builds on top of the interbotix_descriptions and gazebo_ros packages. To get familiar with the nodes in the interbotix_descriptions package, please look at its README. The other nodes are described below:
- gzserver - responsible for running the physics update-loop and sensor data generation
- gzclient - provides a nice GUI to visualize the robot simulation
- spawner - responsible for loading and starting a set of controllers at once, as well as automatically stopping and unloading those same controllers
- spawn_model - adds the robot model as defined in the 'robot_description' parameter into the Gazebo world
To run this package, type the line below in a terminal (assuming the WidowX 250 is being launched).
$ roslaunch interbotix_gazebo gazebo.launch robot_name:=wx250
Since by default, Gazebo is started in a 'paused' state (this is done to give time for the controllers to kick in), unpause the physics once it is fully loaded by typing:
$ rosservice call /gazebo/unpause_physics
This is the bare minimum needed to get up and running. Take a look at the table below to see how to further customize with other launch file arguments.
| Argument | Description | Default Value |
|---|---|---|
| robot_name | name of a robot (ex. 'wx200') | "" |
| robot_model | only used when launching multiple robots or if robot_name contains something other than the model type; if that's the case, this should be set to the robot model type (ex. 'wx200') |
'$(arg robot_name)' |
| use_default_gripper_bar | if true, the gripper_bar link is also loaded to the 'robot_description' parameter; if false, the gripper_bar link and any other link past it in the kinematic chain is not loaded to the parameter server. Set to 'false' if you have a custom gripper attachment | true |
| use_default_gripper_fingers | if true, the gripper fingers are also loaded to the 'robot_description' parameter; if false, the gripper fingers and any other link past it in the kinematic chain is not loaded to the parameter server. Set to 'false' if you have custom gripper fingers | true |
| use_world_frame | set this to 'true' if you would like to load a 'world' frame to the 'robot_description' parameter which is located exactly at the 'base_link' frame of the robot; if using multiple robots or if you would like to attach the 'base_link' frame of the robot to a different frame, set this to False | true |
| external_urdf_loc | the file path to the custom urdf.xacro file that you would like to include in the Interbotix robot's urdf.xacro file | "" |
| use_default_rviz | launches the rviz and static_transform_publisher nodes | false |
| gui | launch the Gazebo GUI | true |
| debug | Start gzserver in debug mode using gdb | false |
| paused | start Gazebo in a paused state | true |
| recording | enable Gazebo state log recording | false |
| use_sim_time | tells ROS nodes asking for time to get the Gazebo-published simulation time, published over the ROS topic /clock | true |