ur5_bridge

Makes a real UR5 (CB3) or UR5e (e-Series) look like the simulated UR5, so MoveIt, the ros2srrc nodes and the pick_place HAL run unchanged. The same exercise code moves the simulated and the real robot.

The arm runs on the official ur_robot_driver, already in the RADI image. This package adds what the driver does not cover:

• gripper_node, drives the Robotiq 2F-85 and serves it as the simulated gripper_controller.
• status_node, explains in the log why the arm does not move and recovers it after a stop.

Launched through CustomRobots/robot_arms/launch/ur5_physical.launch.py, the launch file used for scenes of type physical. It uses the official UR description for the chosen model, not the vendored one of the simulation.

Quick start

1. Plug this computer into the robot with a cable and give it a fixed address on the robot network, for example 192.168.0.50/24 for a robot at 192.168.0.4. ping the robot to check it.
2. On the pendant power the robot on and press START to release the brakes. On a UR5e switch it to Remote Control with the icon at the top right corner, outside the Initialize or Settings screens. The first time enable it in Settings > System > Remote Control. Both robots need the Robotiq URCap installed for the gripper, as it usually is.
3. Start the RoboticsAcademy docker with the robot settings and the ports the robot connects back to:

docker run ... \
  -e UR_TYPE=ur5e -e UR_ROBOT_IP=192.168.1.102 -e UR_REVERSE_IP=192.168.1.10 \
  -p 50001-50004:50001-50004 \
  jderobot/robotics-academy

UR_REVERSE_IP is this computer’s address on the robot network.

1. Open pick_place and choose the Ur5 Physical world.

Environment variables

The same names in lowercase are launch arguments that override them.

In Remote Control the pendant locks its speed slider, set it from the docker:

ros2 service call /io_and_status_controller/set_speed_slider \
  ur_msgs/srv/SetSpeedSliderFraction '{speed_slider_fraction: 0.5}'

Safety

• MoveIt does not know about the table or anything around the robot, there is no collision model.
• The pick_place coordinates of the simulation belong to another table, do not run a simulation solution on the real robot.
• Prefer absolute targets above a minimum height over chains of relative moves, a failed step in a chain can end up against the table.
• Start with the speed slider low and keep a hand near the emergency stop.

Interfaces

A gripper that stops on an object before the target counts as a successful grasp.

Gripper connection

• urcap, the Robotiq URCap socket on the robot, port 63352. Works on CB3 and e-Series, the gripper can be wired to the wrist or to the control box.
• rtu, Modbus RTU at 115200 baud. Either the e-Series wrist through UR_TOOL_COMMUNICATION=true, or a Robotiq USB adapter plugged into this computer, passed to the docker as in dobot_magician_bridge.

Stops

After a power off, a protective stop, an emergency stop or any other safety stop, status_node aborts the running trajectory, so the arm never resumes an old move by itself. When the robot is ready again it sends the control program again in headless mode and the next command works. With UR_HEADLESS=false press play on the pendant.

File truncated at 100 lines see the full file