libfranka: C++ Library for Franka Robotics Research Robots

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libfranka is a C++ library that provides low-level control of Franka Robotics research robots. The [generated API documentation][api-docs] offers an overview of its capabilities, while the [Franka Control Interface (FCI) documentation][fci-docs] provides more information on setting up the robot and utilizing its features and functionalities.

To find the appropriate version to use, please refer to the [Compatibility Matrix][compatibility-matrix].

Key Features

• Low-level control: Access precise motion control for research robots.
• Real-time communication: Interact with the robot in real-time.

Getting Started

1. System Requirements

Before using libfranka, ensure your system meets the following requirements:

• Operating System: [Linux with PREEMPT_RT patched kernel][real-time-kernel] (Ubuntu 16.04 or later, Ubuntu 22.04 recommended)
• Compiler: GCC 7 or later
• CMake: Version 3.10 or later
• Robot: Franka Robotics robot with FCI feature installed

2. Installing dependencies

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y build-essential cmake git libpoco-dev libeigen3-dev libfmt-dev

To use libfranka version 0.14.0 or later, you will need to install [pinocchio][stack-of-tasks] and some more dependencies:

sudo apt-get install -y lsb-release curl
sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL http://robotpkg.openrobots.org/packages/debian/robotpkg.asc | sudo tee /etc/apt/keyrings/robotpkg.asc

echo "deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/robotpkg.asc] http://robotpkg.openrobots.org/packages/debian/pub $(lsb_release -cs) robotpkg" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/robotpkg.list

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y robotpkg-pinocchio

3. Building and Installation from Source

Before building and installing from source, please uninstall existing installations of libfranka to avoid conflicts:

sudo apt-get remove "*libfranka*"

Clone the Repository

You can clone the repository and choose the version you need by selecting a specific tag:

git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/frankarobotics/libfranka.git
cd libfranka

List available tags

git tag -l

Checkout a specific tag (e.g., 0.15.0)

git checkout 0.15.0

Update submodules

git submodule update

Create a build directory and navigate to it

mkdir build
cd build

Configure the project and build

cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=/opt/openrobots/lib/cmake -DBUILD_TESTS=OFF ..
make

Installing libfranka as a Debian Package (Optional but recommended)

Building a Debian package is optional but recommended for easier installation and management. In the build folder, execute:

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CHANGELOG

All notable changes to libfranka and pylibfranka will be documented in this file.

[0.18.0]

Requires Franka Research 3 System Version >= 5.9.0

libfranka - C++

Added

• Forward kinematics computation using Pinocchio library
• Jacobian computation using Pinocchio library
• Accelerometer data exposed in robot state
• Joint position-based velocity limits parsed from URDF to compute upper and lower velocity bounds
• Documentation under libfranka repository
• Feat: Async Position Control Handler added to libfranka to support asynchronous position control (Experimental and subject to change)

Changed

• Updated libfranka-common (common-libfranka) to use float-based RobotState struct
• Upgraded Pinocchio dependency to version 3.4.0
• Upgraded minimum Clang version from 6 to 14
• Removed dynamic library loading from Model constructor

Fixed

• Corrected elbow limit rating which was using incorrect values

Deprecated

• Marked franka::computeUpperLimitsJointVelocity(const std::array<double, 7UL> &q) and franka::computeLowerLimitsJointVelocity(const std::array<double, 7UL> &q)as deprecated. It will be removed in future versions. Use Robot::getUpperJointVelocityLimits(const std::array<double, 7UL> &joint_positions) and Robot::getLowerJointVelocityLimits(const std::array<double, 7UL> &joint_positions) instead.
• With system image >= 5.9.0, the joint position limits of the system with libfranka are increased to match the datasheet. The methods franka::computeUpperLimitsJointVelocity(const std::array<double, 7UL> &q) and franka::computeLowerLimitsJointVelocity(const std::array<double, 7UL> &q) now impose stricter constraints compared to the new parametrized limits.

pylibfranka - Python

• Deployment of the pylibfranka to the github hosted web-page
• Pylibfranka and libfranka versions are synchronized

[0.17.0] - 2025-10-15

pylibfranka - Python

Added

• Cartesian pose control interface

0.16.1 - 2025-10-10

• Fix: fix cmake and package versioning

0.16.0 - 2025-09-15

• Feat: Added pylibfranka - a python binding for libfranka

0.15.3 - 2025-07-31

• Fix outdated Emika links

0.15.2 - 2025-07-24

• Optimize robot model computation

0.15.1 - 2025-06-23

• docs starts a new docs build

0.15.0 - 2025-01-16

Requires Franka Research 3 System Version >= 5.7.2

• Improved error minimization for joint/cartesian pose velocities and accelerations.
• Updated joint position and cartesian pose examples to start from the initial q or O_T_EE.
• Fixed joint position and cartesian pose low-pass filters to use the same command in the first package.
• Added a general logger, allowing users to implement custom loggers for receiving log messages.
• Fixed the bug that prevented exit in case of network connection interruption.

Important

• The flags fci_joint_motion_generator_position_limits_violation_flag and fci_cartesian_motion_generator_joint_position_limits_violation_flag are now always set to false and will be deprecated in future releases. They will be replaced by joint_position_limits_violation.

BREAKING

• The previous CSV robot state logger has been renamed to robot_state_logger and relocated.

0.14.1 - 2024-09-06

• Added doxygen generation

0.14.0 - 2024-03-26

Requires Franka Research 3 system version >= 5.7.0

• Compute dynamic robot parameters with Pinocchio library.

0.13.5 - 2024-09-06

• Updated doxygen generation

0.13.4 - 2024-09-05

Requires Franka Research 3 system version >= 5.5.0

• Added package.xml for ros humble release

0.13.3 - 2024-01-18

Requires Franka Research 3 system version >= 5.5.0

• Bump libfranka-common version compatible with 5.5.0

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