"Preview URDF" does not display visuals

[d-kleine]

Hi @ranchhandrobotics,

I am using VS Code on Windows, and I am experiencing an issue with the VS Code extension feature "Preview URDF", where robot parts are not being displayed. Even after clicking the "Visuals" button, the model components remain invisible. I have tested this with multiple different robot models, but the issue persists consistently.

For reproduction, please use the URDF file for the SO-101 robot arm:
https://github.com/TheRobotStudio/SO-ARM100/tree/main/Simulation/SO101

The meshes are stored in the assets folder. Links and joints are correctly displayed in the "Preview URDF", but the visual elements are not rendered.

1. Store all files in the same folder and open this folder as root in VS Code.
2. Open an URDF file in VS Code, for example so101_new_calib.urdf
3. Launch the "Preview URDF" feature in VS Code.
4. Click on the "Visuals" button in the preview window.

Could you please check if you are able to reproduce this behavior on your end?

Additionally, could you let me know if there might be any issues with the URDF file itself, or if there are specific requirements that need to be met for the visuals to render correctly in the preview?

[ranchhandrobotics]

Thank you for reporting, I'll take a look.

[ranchhandrobotics]

Can you tell me a few things:

• Are you using the prerelease branch or release?
• Can you share the logs? If you open the vscode terminal, the output tab, select URDF editor; it should provide some details.

I'll look at it tonight

[d-kleine]

• I have used the release version (I tested the pre-release as well, same issue)
• The logs in the output show the code from the URDF - no errors, warnings, etc. The log begins with:
  URDF previewing: file:///c%3A/Users/user/Desktop/SO101/so101_new_calib.urdf

[ranchhandrobotics]

I'm able to reproduce it. it looks like a problem with the stl files themselves; digging in.

[d-kleine]

If that helps, I had this issue also with obj files with a generated URDF file for my own robot.

[ranchhandrobotics]

Turns out that I've been sitting on this fix - #76

[d-kleine]

I have also tried to use absolute paths, same issue

[ranchhandrobotics]

Woot.

[d-kleine]

How did you specify the absolute paths? I was using

<mesh filename="file:///C:/Users/user/Desktop/SO101/assets/base_motor_holder_so101_v1.stl"/>

[ranchhandrobotics]

How did you specify the absolute paths? I was using

Because of how vscode does sandboxing, absolute paths are problematic. I had relative paths on the backlog; and fixed it in in the link I shared earlier. that picture is from the fixed branch. However, I'm encountering some other issues; perhaps unrelated to that change. Digging into that now

[d-kleine]

that picture is from the fixed branch.

Alright, I think I understand now 💡

So, to give a broader overview, I have tested

• relative and absolute paths
• with ./ (e.g. ./assets/...) and without (e.g. assets/...)
• filename="file:///..."

[ranchhandrobotics]

Fixed the relative path issue for the xacro find as well. Building and will push a pre=release

[ranchhandrobotics]

I created #90 to investigate if we can break out of the sandbox for some cases; I'm not certain it is feasible; but I'll try

[ranchhandrobotics]

I need to work on some cleanup before pushing the pre-release, and it's getting late. if you want to try this out, you can download the vsix from the action https://github.com/Ranch-Hand-Robotics/rde-urdf/actions/runs/24274954655.

You can temporarily sideload this, https://vscode-docs.readthedocs.io/en/stable/extensions/install-extension/. I'll work on getting this published shortly