UR With Robotiq Hand-e Tutorial

This is a guide on how to create a custom Moveit configuration using Moveit Setup Assistant. Before starting the tutorial you should first install all of the necessary stuff from the Prerequisites section.

Instructions:

• Setup Connection with UR5e
• Create Custom Moveit Config
• Running A Sample Code
• Controlling Robotiq Gripper

Prerequisites

• Moveit
• Universal Robots ROS2 Driver

Clone this workspace and build

cd
mkdir -p colcon_ws/src
cd ~/colcon_ws/src
git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/patsyuk03/URWithRobotiqTutorial.git
cd ~/colcon_ws
colcon build
source install/setup.bash

This repository contains ROS2 driver and description for Robotiq Hand-e, additionally, it has a demo package that includes one demo that you can run with fake hardware and the demo for the real robot execution with Robotiq gripper and custom moveit config.

Setup Connection with UR5e

1. Setup network connection

2. Launch UR5e controller and moveit config

Note: source the workspace every time you open the new terminal.

cd ~/colcon_ws
source install/setup.bash

For work with fake hardware:

In one terminal:

ros2 launch ur_robot_driver ur_control.launch.py ur_type:=ur5e robot_ip:=xxx.xxx.x.xxx use_fake_hardware:=true initial_joint_controller:=joint_trajectory_controller launch_rviz:=false

In another terminal:

ros2 launch ur_moveit_config ur_moveit.launch.py ur_type:=ur5e use_fake_hardware:=true launch_rviz:=true

For work with real robot:

In one terminal:

ros2 launch ur_robot_driver ur_control.launch.py ur_type:=ur5e robot_ip:=xxx.xxx.x.xxx use_fake_hardware:=false launch_rviz:=false initial_joint_controller:=scaled_joint_trajectory_controller

In another terminal:

ros2 launch ur_moveit_config ur_moveit.launch.py ur_type:=ur5e use_fake_hardware:=false launch_rviz:=true

3. If working with real robot start external_control program at teach pendant

Create Custom Moveit Config

In the previous step, we used the default moveit configuration which has only a robot with no gripper or table that it stands on. In this section, you will learn how to create a custom Moveit configuration using Moveit Setup Assistant.

1. Add table

First lets see the robot description that we have now:

ros2 launch ur_robotiq_description view_robot.launch.py

This robot description file does not have the table, in this case, there is always a chance that the robot will collide with the table in the real world. To avoid this we can add the table to the robot description. To do this open file ur5e_with_robotiq_hande.xacro from the ur_robotiq_description package and add there the following code:

  <!-- Add table link -->
  <link name="table">
    <visual>
      <geometry>
        <box size="1.5 1.5 0.05"/>
      </geometry>
      <material name="white">
        <color rgba="1 1 1 1"/>
      </material>
    </visual>
    <collision>
      <geometry>
        <box size="1.5 1.5 0.05"/>
      </geometry>
    </collision>
  </link>

  <!-- Define table position relative to the world link -->
  <joint name="world_to_table" type="fixed">
    <parent link="world"/>
    <child link="table"/>
    <origin xyz="0 0 -0.15" rpy="0 0 0"/>
  </joint>

Build the workspace with added changes:

cd ~/colcon_ws
colcon build

Check that the table was added successfully:

ros2 launch ur_robotiq_description view_robot.launch.py

2. Moveit Setup Assistant

ros2 run moveit_setup_assistant moveit_setup_assistant

First, select "Create New MoveIt Configuration Package" and browse the ur5e_with_robotiq_hande.xacro robot description from ur_robotiq_description package.

Then select "Load Files".

From the left bar choose "Self-Collisions" and press "Generate Collision Matrix". This step creates the collision matrix that lets the robot know of the possible collisions with itself, the gripper, or the table.

From the left bar select "Planning Groups" and press "Add Group". Write the Group Name, select Kinematic Solver and Group Default Planner. Press "Add Kin. Chain".

Choose the "Base Link" and the "Tip Link" from the robot links. In this case base_link and tool0.

The end result should look like this:

From the left bar select "Robot Poses" and click "Add Robot Pose". Choose the name for the pose and by dragging the trackbars create the desired pose.

Next, we need to add the controllers. Select "ROS2 Controllers" -> "Add Controller", and enter the name of the controller. Press "Add Planning Group Joints".

Select "ur_manipulator" group and click "Save".

This should be the result:

Now do the same thing for "Moveit Controllers" but instead of JointTrajectoryController keep the default FollowTrajectoryController.

Add the author's information.

Finally, select "Configuration Files" from the left bar, click Browse, and select "URWithRobotiqTutorial" as the directory where to save the newly created MoveIt configuration package then add "/ur_robotiq_moveit_config". Press "Generate Package".

3. Modify generated package

1. Open file ur5e_with_robotiq_hande.urdf.xacro in ur_robotiq_moveit_config package in config folder and change initial_positions_file->initial_positions. The final content of the file should be the following:

2. Open file ros2_controllers.yaml in ur_robotiq_moveit_config package and delete those lines:

joint_state_broadcaster:
      type: joint_state_broadcaster/JointStateBroadcaster

3. Save the files and build the workspace:

cd ~/colcon_ws
colcon build
source install/setup.bash 

4. See the result

In one terminal:

ros2 launch ur_robot_driver ur_control.launch.py ur_type:=ur5e robot_ip:=xxx.xxx.x.xxx use_fake_hardware:=true initial_joint_controller:=joint_trajectory_controller launch_rviz:=false

In another terminal:

ros2 launch ur_robotiq_moveit_config demo.launch.py

Running A Sample Code

1. Launch demos

For work with fake hardware:

In one terminal:

ros2 launch ur_robotiq_demo ur_with_gripper_demo.launch.py use_fake_hardware:=true

In another terminal:

ros2 run ur_robotiq_demo demo

For work with real robot:

In one terminal:

ros2 launch ur_robotiq_demo ur_with_gripper_demo.launch.py robot_ip:=xxx.xxx.x.xxx use_fake_hardware:=false

Start external_control program at teach pendant.

In another terminal:

ros2 run ur_robotiq_demo ur_with_gripper_demo

Controlling Robotiq Gripper

1. Setup network connection

Same as in Setup Connection with UR5e

2. Launch gripper driver

In one terminal:

ros2 launch robotiq_hande_ros2_driver gripper_bringup.launch.py robot_ip:=xxx.xxx.x.xxx

In another terminal:

3. Run the test

ros2 run robotiq_hande_ros2_driver test