UR10e w/ Robotiq 2f-85 Gripper

Installation Instructions

Go to the home directory and run the following commands to clone the repo into a workspace.

mkdir -p ur10e_ws/src
cd ur10e_ws/src
git clone git@github.com:rams-lab-sheffield/ur10e-default.git

rosdep is used to install the required dependencies. If not yet installed, install and configure rosdep with:

pip install rosdep
sudo rosdep init
rosdep update

Navigate back to the ur10e_ws directory and use rosdep to install the dependencies.

cd ~/ur10e_ws
rosdep install --from-paths src -y --ignore-src --os=ubuntu:jammy

MoveIt! & Gazebo Configuration

Before using the workspace there are a few extra steps required to get MoveIt! and Gazebo working properly

The default middleware used in ROS2 is Fast DDS. However, MoveIt! tends to run into issues using Fast DDS so we need to implement Cyclone DDS instead. First off, install the Cyclone DDS implementation with:

sudo apt install ros-humble-rmw-cyclonedds-cpp

Next, we need to edit the .bashrc file (or equivalent file if using a different terminal) to specify we want to use Cyclone DDS as our middleware implementation. Add the following to the end of your .bashrc file (Use whatever editor you like):

export RMW_IMPLEMENTATION=rmw_cyclonedds_cpp

While we're here, we also want to specify what Gazebo (Ignition) version we're using, which in the case of ROS2 Humble should be Ignition Fortress. Add the following to the end of your .bashrc file (Use whatever editor you like):

export IGNITION_VERSION=fortress

If Gazebo is not yet installed, please install it by running the following command:

sudo apt install ros-humble-ros-gz

Building the Workspace

Finally, navigate back to the ur10e_ws directory and use colcon to build the workspace, then source it:

cd ~/ur10e_ws
colcon build --mixin release
source install/setup.bash

Package Description

To avoid confusion, the following is a brief description of all the packages in the workspace:

• ign_ros2_control: Contains plugin to communicate between Gazebo and ROS2 Control
• moveit_task_constructor: Contains packages for MoveIt! Task Constructor
• ur10e: Meta-Package for the other ur10e_ packages
• ur10e_control: Package to control the UR10e via MoveIt! Interface / MoveGroup (w/ RViz Visualisation and Gazebo Simulation)
• ur10e_description: Package containing the URDFs for the UR10e w/ Robotiq Gripper
• ur10e_moveit_config: Package automatically generated from MoveIt! Setup Assistant for the UR10e w/ Robotiq Gripper
• ur10e_sim: Package for spawning the UR10e w/ Robotiq Gripper (Only loading the controllers, not configuring)

Final Notes

• The STL files for the Frame and Table are not included in the repository as their file sizes are too big for Git to track. To include these files into the workspace please follow these steps:

  1. Go to the RAMS Lab Project Drive and download the Frame and Table STL files from their respective meshes directories in Project - Robot Art/3D Models/models

  2. Go to the ur10e_description package and place the STL files like so:

     

• When running moveit_control.launch.py, do not attempt to plan or execute any motion plans until the model has fully loaded in Gazebo and the simulation is running (You've hit play in the bottom left of the Gazebo GUI). Before then the controllers for the UR10e have not loaded yet so any attempted motion plan will fail.