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Move hardware interface README content to sphinx documentation (#1342)
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mateusmenezes95 authored Feb 9, 2024
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132 changes: 3 additions & 129 deletions hardware_interface/README.md
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robot agnostic hardware_interface package.
This package will eventually be moved into its own repo.
# Overview

## Best practice for `hardware_interface` implementation
In the following section you can find some advices which will help you implement interface
for your specific hardware.
For detailed information about this package, please see the [ros2_control Documentation]!

### Best practice for having different update rate for each `hardware_interface` by counting loops
Current implementation of [ros2_control main node](https://github.com/ros-controls/ros2_control/blob/master/controller_manager/src/ros2_control_node.cpp)
has one update rate that controls the rate of the [`read()`](https://github.com/ros-controls/ros2_control/blob/fe462926416d527d1da163bc3eabd02ee1de9be9/hardware_interface/include/hardware_interface/system_interface.hpp#L169) and [`write()`](https://github.com/ros-controls/ros2_control/blob/fe462926416d527d1da163bc3eabd02ee1de9be9/hardware_interface/include/hardware_interface/system_interface.hpp#L178)
calls in [`hardware_interface(s)`](https://github.com/ros-controls/ros2_control/blob/master/hardware_interface/include/hardware_interface/system_interface.hpp).
In this section suggestion on how to run each interface implementation on its own update rate is introduced.

1. Add parameters of main control loop update rate and desired update rate for your hardware interface.
```
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<robot xmlns:xacro="http://www.ros.org/wiki/xacro">
<xacro:macro name="system_interface" params="name main_loop_update_rate desired_hw_update_rate">
<ros2_control name="${name}" type="system">
<hardware>
<plugin>my_system_interface/MySystemHardware</plugin>
<param name="main_loop_update_rate">${main_loop_update_rate}</param>
<param name="desired_hw_update_rate">${desired_hw_update_rate}</param>
</hardware>
...
</ros2_control>
</xacro:macro>
</robot>
```

2. In you [`on_init()`](https://github.com/ros-controls/ros2_control/blob/fe462926416d527d1da163bc3eabd02ee1de9be9/hardware_interface/include/hardware_interface/system_interface.hpp#L94) specific implementation fetch desired parameters:
```
namespace my_system_interface
{
hardware_interface::CallbackReturn MySystemHardware::on_init(
const hardware_interface::HardwareInfo & info)
{
if (
hardware_interface::SystemInterface::on_init(info) !=
hardware_interface::CallbackReturn::SUCCESS)
{
return hardware_interface::CallbackReturn::ERROR;
}
// declaration in *.hpp file --> unsigned int main_loop_update_rate_, desired_hw_update_rate_ = 100 ;
main_loop_update_rate_ = stoi(info_.hardware_parameters["main_loop_update_rate"]);
desired_hw_update_rate_ = stoi(info_.hardware_parameters["desired_hw_update_rate"]);
...
}
...
} // my_system_interface
```

3. In your `on_activate()` specific implementation reset internal loop counter
```
hardware_interface::CallbackReturn MySystemHardware::on_activate(
const rclcpp_lifecycle::State & /*previous_state*/)
{
// declaration in *.hpp file --> unsigned int update_loop_counter_ ;
update_loop_counter_ = 0;
...
}
```

4. In your `read(const rclcpp::Time & time, const rclcpp::Duration & period)` and/or
`write(const rclcpp::Time & time, const rclcpp::Duration & period)`
specific implementations decide if you should interfere with your hardware
```
hardware_interface::return_type MySystemHardware::read(const rclcpp::Time & time, const rclcpp::Duration & period)
{
bool hardware_go = main_loop_update_rate_ == 0 ||
desired_hw_update_rate_ == 0 ||
((update_loop_counter_ % desired_hw_update_rate_) == 0);
if (hardware_go){
// hardware comms and operations
}
...
// update counter
++update_loop_counter_;
update_loop_counter_ %= main_loop_update_rate_;
}
```

### Best practice for having different update rate for each `hardware_interface` by measuring elapsed time
Another way to decide if hardware communication should be executed in the`read(const rclcpp::Time & time, const rclcpp::Duration & period)` and/or
`write(const rclcpp::Time & time, const rclcpp::Duration & period)` implementations is to measure elapsed time since last pass:

```
hardware_interface::CallbackReturn MySystemHardware::on_activate(
const rclcpp_lifecycle::State & /*previous_state*/)
{
// declaration in *.hpp file --> bool first_read_pass_, first_write_pass_ = true ;
first_read_pass_ = first_write_pass_ = true;
...
}
hardware_interface::return_type MySystemHardware::read(const rclcpp::Time & time, const rclcpp::Duration & period)
{
if (first_read_pass_ || (time - last_read_time_ ) > period)
{
first_read_pass_ = false;
// declaration in *.hpp file --> rclcpp::Time last_read_time_ ;
last_read_time_ = time;
// hardware comms and operations
...
}
...
}
hardware_interface::return_type MySystemHardware::write(const rclcpp::Time & time, const rclcpp::Duration & period)
{
if (first_write_pass_ || (time - last_write_time_ ) > period)
{
first_write_pass_ = false;
// declaration in *.hpp file --> rclcpp::Time last_write_time_ ;
last_write_time_ = time;
// hardware comms and operations
...
}
...
}
```
[ros2_control Documentation]: https://control.ros.org/master/doc/ros2_control/hardware_interface/doc/hardware_components_userdoc.html
169 changes: 169 additions & 0 deletions hardware_interface/doc/different_update_rates_userdoc.rst
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:github_url: https://github.com/ros-controls/ros2_control/blob/{REPOS_FILE_BRANCH}/hardware_interface/doc/different_update_rates_userdoc.rst

.. _different_update_rates_userdoc:

Different update rates for Hardware Components
===============================================================================

In the following sections you can find some advice which will help you to implement Hardware
Components with update rates different from the main control loop.

By counting loops
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Current implementation of
`ros2_control main node <https://github.com/ros-controls/ros2_control/blob/{REPOS_FILE_BRANCH}/controller_manager/src/ros2_control_node.cpp>`_
has one update rate that controls the rate of the
`read(...) <https://github.com/ros-controls/ros2_control/blob/0bdcd414c7ab8091f3e1b8d9b73a91c778388e82/hardware_interface/include/hardware_interface/system_interface.hpp#L175>`_
and `write(...) <https://github.com/ros-controls/ros2_control/blob/fe462926416d527d1da163bc3eabd02ee1de9be9/hardware_interface/include/hardware_interface/system_interface.hpp#L178>`_
calls in `hardware_interface(s) <https://github.com/ros-controls/ros2_control/blob/{REPOS_FILE_BRANCH}/hardware_interface/include/hardware_interface/system_interface.hpp>`_.
To achieve different update rates for your hardware component you can use the following steps:

.. _step-1:

1. Add parameters of main control loop update rate and desired update rate for your hardware component

.. code:: xml
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<robot xmlns:xacro="http://www.ros.org/wiki/xacro">
<xacro:macro name="system_interface" params="name main_loop_update_rate desired_hw_update_rate">
<ros2_control name="${name}" type="system">
<hardware>
<plugin>my_system_interface/MySystemHardware</plugin>
<param name="main_loop_update_rate">${main_loop_update_rate}</param>
<param name="desired_hw_update_rate">${desired_hw_update_rate}</param>
</hardware>
...
</ros2_control>
</xacro:macro>
</robot>
.. _step-2:

2. In you ``on_init()`` specific implementation fetch the desired parameters

.. code:: cpp
namespace my_system_interface
{
hardware_interface::CallbackReturn MySystemHardware::on_init(
const hardware_interface::HardwareInfo & info)
{
if (
hardware_interface::SystemInterface::on_init(info) !=
hardware_interface::CallbackReturn::SUCCESS)
{
return hardware_interface::CallbackReturn::ERROR;
}
// declaration in *.hpp file --> unsigned int main_loop_update_rate_, desired_hw_update_rate_ = 100 ;
main_loop_update_rate_ = stoi(info_.hardware_parameters["main_loop_update_rate"]);
desired_hw_update_rate_ = stoi(info_.hardware_parameters["desired_hw_update_rate"]);
...
}
...
} // my_system_interface
3. In your ``on_activate`` specific implementation reset internal loop counter

.. code:: cpp
hardware_interface::CallbackReturn MySystemHardware::on_activate(
const rclcpp_lifecycle::State & /*previous_state*/)
{
// declaration in *.hpp file --> unsigned int update_loop_counter_ ;
update_loop_counter_ = 0;
...
}
4. In your ``read(const rclcpp::Time & time, const rclcpp::Duration & period)``
and/or ``write(const rclcpp::Time & time, const rclcpp::Duration & period)``
specific implementations decide if you should interfere with your hardware

.. code:: cpp
hardware_interface::return_type MySystemHardware::read(const rclcpp::Time & time, const rclcpp::Duration & period)
{
bool hardware_go = main_loop_update_rate_ == 0 ||
desired_hw_update_rate_ == 0 ||
((update_loop_counter_ % desired_hw_update_rate_) == 0);
if (hardware_go){
// hardware comms and operations
...
}
...
// update counter
++update_loop_counter_;
update_loop_counter_ %= main_loop_update_rate_;
}
By measuring elapsed time
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another way to decide if hardware communication should be executed in the
``read(const rclcpp::Time & time, const rclcpp::Duration & period)`` and/or
``write(const rclcpp::Time & time, const rclcpp::Duration & period)``
implementations is to measure elapsed time since last pass:

1. In your ``on_activate`` specific implementation reset the flags that indicate
that this is the first pass of the ``read`` and ``write`` methods

.. code:: cpp
hardware_interface::CallbackReturn MySystemHardware::on_activate(
const rclcpp_lifecycle::State & /*previous_state*/)
{
// declaration in *.hpp file --> bool first_read_pass_, first_write_pass_ = true ;
first_read_pass_ = first_write_pass_ = true;
...
}
2. In your ``read(const rclcpp::Time & time, const rclcpp::Duration & period)``
and/or ``write(const rclcpp::Time & time, const rclcpp::Duration & period)``
specific implementations decide if you should interfere with your hardware

.. code:: cpp
hardware_interface::return_type MySystemHardware::read(const rclcpp::Time & time, const rclcpp::Duration & period)
{
if (first_read_pass_ || (time - last_read_time_ ) > desired_hw_update_period_)
{
first_read_pass_ = false;
// declaration in *.hpp file --> rclcpp::Time last_read_time_ ;
last_read_time_ = time;
// hardware comms and operations
...
}
...
}
hardware_interface::return_type MySystemHardware::write(const rclcpp::Time & time, const rclcpp::Duration & period)
{
if (first_write_pass_ || (time - last_write_time_ ) > desired_hw_update_period_)
{
first_write_pass_ = false;
// declaration in *.hpp file --> rclcpp::Time last_write_time_ ;
last_write_time_ = time;
// hardware comms and operations
...
}
...
}
.. note::

The approach to get the desired update period value from the URDF and assign it to the variable
``desired_hw_update_period_`` is the same as in the previous section (|step-1|_ and |step-2|_) but
with a different parameter name.

.. |step-1| replace:: step 1
.. |step-2| replace:: step 2
1 change: 1 addition & 0 deletions hardware_interface/doc/hardware_components_userdoc.rst
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Hardware Interface Types <hardware_interface_types_userdoc.rst>
Writing a Hardware Component <writing_new_hardware_component.rst>
Different Update Rates <different_update_rates_userdoc.rst>


Handling of errors that happen during read() and write() calls
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