Universal Robotics - Robotic Arm

Overview

This project provides a ROS (Robot Operating System) package designed for controlling a Universal Robotics robotic arm.

Prerequisits

• Operating System: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Recommended)
• ROS 2 Distribution: Humble
• Docker: Installed and configured for running ROS 2 applications
• NVIDIA Drivers: Ensure you have the latest drivers installed if using GPU acceleration.

Note

If you are using Docker, installing ROS 2 separately is not required.

Installation

Important

ROS 2 requires the universe repository, which is only available on Ubuntu or Ubuntu derivatives of Linux. If you are using Arch or other non-Ubuntu distributions, you must use Docker.

Installation for Linux

1. Install Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

If you haven't already installed Ubuntu, follow these steps:

1. Download the Ubuntu 22.04 LTS ISO from the official website.
2. Create a bootable USB stick using tools like Rufus (for Windows) or Startup Disk Creator (for Ubuntu).
3. Boot from the USB stick and follow the on-screen instructions to install Ubuntu.

2. Install ROS 2 Humble

Important

Cross Check these installation commands from the official ROS2 installation guide

Follow the official ROS 2 installation guide for Ubuntu:

1. Set up your sources:

   sudo apt update && sudo apt install curl -y
   sudo curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ros/rosdistro/master/ros.asc | sudo apt-key add -
   sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://packages.ros.org/ros2/ubuntu $(lsb_release -cs) main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ros2-latest.list'

2. Install ROS 2 packages:

   sudo apt update
   sudo apt install ros-humble-desktop

3. Source the ROS 2 setup script:

   source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash

4. Install dependencies:

   sudo apt install python3-argcomplete python3-colcon-common-extensions

Installation for Docker

Important

Cross Check these installation commands from the official Docker installation guide

1. Install Docker

Docker is required to run the ROS 2 application in a containerized environment. Follow the official Docker installation guide:

1. Update your package index:

   sudo apt-get update

2. Install required packages:

   sudo apt-get install \
       ca-certificates \
       curl \
       gnupg \
       lsb-release

3. Add Docker’s official GPG key:

   sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
   curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gp

4. Set up the Docker repository:

   echo \
   "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu \
   $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null

5. Install Docker Engine:

   sudo apt-get update
   sudo apt-get install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin

6. Verify Docker installation:

   sudo docker run hello-world

2. Set Up NVIDIA Docker (Optional)

Important

Cross Check these installation commands from the official NVIDIA Docker installation guide

If you're using GPU acceleration, you'll need to set up NVIDIA Docker. Follow the official Nvidia Container Toolkit installation guide:

1. Install NVIDIA container toolkit:

   sudo apt-get install -y nvidia-container-toolkit
   sudo systemctl restart docker

2. Test NVIDIA Docker setup:

   sudo docker run --rm --gpus all nvidia/cuda:11.0-base nvidia-smi

3. Clone the Repository

Clone this repository to your local machine:

https://github.com/Robotics-Society-PEC/Robotic-Arm.git

4. Running the container

To run the container there is a convenient python script:

Note

Running the container first time will start building the image, this will take several minutes.

1. Starting the Container

   ./launch start

2. Enter the Container

   ./launch exec

Installation for Windows and MacOS

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Running the Package

Loading the Robot in Gazebo

To start simulating the robot in Gazebo run the following command:

ros2 launch ur_gz_bringup sil.launch.py model:=<MODEL OF THE ROBOT>

Important

Enable Sim Time for Moveit Move Group, after starting the simulation.

To Enable Sim Time for Moveit Move Group:

ros2 param set /move_group use_sim_time true

License

This project is licensed under the GPL-3.0-only License. See the LICENSE file for more details.

Acknowledgements

This project is developed based on resources and support from Universal Robotics. We extend our gratitude to them for providing the robotic arm and necessary documentation for the development of this ROS package.