panda_description

panda_description

URDF and SDF description of Franka Emika Panda.

Instructions

URDF

For URDF, panda.urdf.xacro is the primary descriptor that includes all other xacros and creates a model based on the passed arguments. To generate URDF out of xacro, you can use the included xacro2urdf.bash script and modify its arguments as needed. Once executed, panda.urdf will automatically be replaced. Alternatively, xacro panda.urdf.xacro name:="panda" <arg_i>:=<val_i> ... can be executed directly, e.g. this is preferred within any launch script.

In order to visualise URDF with RViz2, included view.launch.py script can be used.

ros2 launch panda_description view.launch.py

SDF

For SDF, please use the included xacro2sdf.bash script with the desired arguments. This script makes sure that a correct relative path is used to locate all assets.

To visualise SDF with Gazebo, included view_ign.launch.py script can be used.

ros2 launch panda_description view_ign.launch.py

Fuel

If you do not require URDF and other resources from this repository, the default model (without ros2_control) can also be included directly from Fuel if you do not require the URDF description.

<include>
    <uri>https://fuel.gazebosim.org/1.0/AndrejOrsula/models/panda</uri>
</include>

Disclaimer

Several of the included xacros and meshes originated in frankaemika/franka_ros. These files were modified to fit the purpose of this repository, e.g. xacros were refactored, inertial properties were estimated, support for ros2_control was added, mesh geometry was remodelled to improve performance, ...

Directory Structure

The following directory structure is utilised for this package because it provides compatibility with Gazebo, including Fuel.

.
├── config/initial_joint_positions.yaml # List of initial joint positions for fake and simulated ROS 2 control
├── launch/                             # [dir] ROS 2 launch scripts
    ├── view.launch.py                  # Launch script for visualising URDF with RViz2
    └── view_ign.launch.py              # Launch script for visualising SDF with Gazebo
├── panda/                              # [dir] Model directory compatible with Fuel
    ├── meshes/                         # [dir] Meshes for both URDF and SDF
        ├── **/collision/*.stl          # STL meshes for collision geometry
        └── **/visual/*.dae             # COLLADA meshes for visuals
    ├── thumbnails/                     # [dir] Thumbnails for Fuel
    ├── model.config                    # Model meta data
    └── model.sdf                       # SDF (generated from URDF)
├── rviz/view.rviz                      # RViz2 config for visualising URDF
├── scripts/                            # [dir] Additional useful scripts
├── urdf/                               # [dir] URDF description (xacros)
    ├── panda_arm.xacro                 # Xacro for Franka Emika Panda arm
    ├── panda_gripper.xacro             # Xacro for Franka Emika Panda gripper
    ├── panda_inertial.xacro            # Macro for inertial properties of Franka Emika Panda
    ├── panda_utils.Macro               # Macros for general boilerplate
    ├── panda.gazebo                    # Macros that add Gazebo plugins for Franka Emika Panda
    ├── panda.ros2_control              # Macros that add ros2 control for Franka Emika Panda
    ├── panda.urdf                      # URDF (generated from panda.urdf.xacro)
    └── panda.urdf.xacro                # High-level xacro for Franka Emika Panda
├── CMakeLists.txt                      # Colcon-enabled CMake recipe
└── package.xml                         # ROS 2 package metadata