ur_arm_test

ur_arm_test is a ROS package for testing and simulating the control of a Universal Robots (UR) 7-DoF robotic arm. It provides example nodes for various types of joint control, real-time trajectory publishing, and MoveIt integration, mainly for use in Gazebo simulation environments.

Main Purpose

• Joint Trajectory Control: Test joint trajectory commands using action server/client.
• Real-Time Control: Example for real-time trajectory publishing.
• MoveIt Integration: Example for position control using MoveIt.
• ROS/Gazebo Practice: Example nodes for learning and testing UR arm control in ROS and Gazebo.

Package Structure

ur_arm_test/
├── src/
│   ├── test_ur_joint_traj_action.cpp
│   ├── test_ur_joint_traj_realtime.cpp
│   ├── test_ur_joint_trajectory_publisher_node.cpp
│   └── test_ur_position_moveit.cpp
├── include/
├── CMakeLists.txt
├── package.xml
└── README.md

Dependencies

• ROS Noetic
• roscpp, std_msgs, sensor_msgs, trajectory_msgs, control_msgs, moveit_ros_planning_interface, etc.
• Universal Robots model and Gazebo/MoveIt environment from ros-industrial/universal_robot

Installation & Build

1. Install ROS Noetic

Refer to the official ROS installation guide.

2. Create and Move to Workspace

mkdir -p ~/catkin_ws/src
cd ~/catkin_ws/src

3. Clone the Packages

Clone both the universal_robot package (for simulation and MoveIt config) and this package:

git clone https://github.com/ros-industrial/universal_robot.git
# Clone the UR3_ROS_TEST package
git clone https://github.com/IRaC-Lab/UR3_ROS_TEST.git

4. Install Dependencies

cd ~/catkin_ws
rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src -r -y

5. Build

catkin_make
source devel/setup.bash

Usage

1. Launch Gazebo Simulation and MoveIt (using universal_robot)

• Use the launch files provided by the universal_robot package for Gazebo simulation and MoveIt configuration. For example:

roslaunch ur_gazebo ur3_bringup.launch
# or for MoveIt
roslaunch ur3_moveit_config ur3_moveit_planning_execution.launch sim:=true

• Make sure the correct robot model (e.g., ur5e, ur10, etc.) is specified as needed.

2. Run Joint Trajectory Action Client Example

rosrun ur_arm_test test_ur_joint_traj_action

• Sends target values to the JointTrajectoryAction server.

3. Run Real-Time Joint Trajectory Publisher

rosrun ur_arm_test test_ur_joint_traj_realtime

• Publishes joint trajectory commands in real time.

4. Run JointTrajectory Publisher Node

rosrun ur_arm_test test_ur_joint_trajectory_publisher_node

• Publishes trajectory commands for single or multiple joints.

5. Run MoveIt-based Position Control Example

rosrun ur_arm_test test_ur_position_moveit

• Uses MoveIt interface for target position control.

Main Topics & Actions

• Published: /arm_controller/command (trajectory_msgs/JointTrajectory)
• Action: /arm_controller/follow_joint_trajectory (control_msgs/FollowJointTrajectoryAction)
• MoveIt: Uses MoveGroup interface

Notes

• The robot model, Gazebo simulation, and MoveIt configuration are provided by the ros-industrial/universal_robot package.
• Refer to comments and code in each example source file.
• Gazebo/MoveIt environment must be properly set up and running before executing the example nodes in this package.

License

MIT License (see LICENSE file)

Issues & Contributions

Issues and pull requests are welcome!