youbot_manipulation

This repository contains packages for using the youBot's manipulator in ROS. It includes an analytical inverse position kinematics solver and configuration files for MoveIt!.

Overview

The youbot_manipulation meta-package contains the following packages:

• youbot_arm_kinematics: A framework-independent library which implements an analytical inverse position kinematics solver for the youBot manipulator.
• youbot_arm_kinematics_moveit: A MoveIt! plugin which exposes the youbot_arm_kinematics library (see above) to MoveIt!.
• youbot_moveit: Configuration files to use the youBot with MoveIt! and the analytical inverse kinematics solver from this repository. These files have been auto-generated by the MoveIt! setup assistant.

Prerequisites

First, install the required ROS and especially MoveIt! packages by executing:

apt-get install python-wstool ros-hydro-roscpp ros-hydro-pluginlib ros-hydro-urdf \
  ros-hydro-tf-conversions ros-hydro-joint-state-publisher \
  ros-hydro-robot-state-publisher ros-hydro-xacro \
  ros-hydro-moveit-core ros-hydro-moveit-ros-move-group \
  ros-hydro-moveit-planners-ompl ros-hydro-moveit-ros-visualization

Then, create a Catkin workspace (http://wiki.ros.org/catkin/Tutorials/create_a_workspace) and add the youBot description repository with the following commands:

cd <catkin_workspace>/src
wstool init
wstool set youbot_description --git [email protected]:youbot/youbot_description.git --version=hydro-devel
wstool update youbot_description

Installation

Add the youBot manipulation repository to this workspace by executing the following commands:

cd <catkin_workspace>/src
wstool set youbot_manipulation --git [email protected]:svenschneider/youbot-manipulation.git --version=hydro
wstool update youbot_manipulation

Now build the workspace:

cd <catkin_workspace>
catkin_make

Running the demo

The youbot_moveit package contains a demo to run and visualize a simulated youBot in RViz. This demo can be executed via the following command:

roslaunch youbot_moveit demo.launch

Using the markers attached to the manipulator, the end-effector can be dragged around which triggers the inverse kinematics solver. Additionally, different motion planners can be tried out.

Running on the real or simulated robot

First, bring up the real or simulated robot. Then, start MoveIt! via:

roslaunch youbot_moveit move_group.launch

With the MoveIt! Commander (http://moveit.ros.org/wiki/MoveIt_Commander) the manipulator can be moved by typing in commands. To start the MoveIt! Commander run:

rosrun moveit_commander moveit_commander_cmdline.py

Then select the hardware group to move and command it to some known position (e.g. the up-right, candle position):

> use arm_1
arm_1> go candle

Documentation

The MoveIt! kinematics plugin in the youbot_arm_kinematics_moveit package implements the standard MoveIt! interfaces. Therefore, consult the MoveIt! website (http://moveit.ros.org/) for further documentation related to using MoveIt!.