ROS2 Driver Packages for DENSO Robots

The DENSO robot ROS2 stack contains libraries, configuration files, and ROS2 nodes for controlling a DENSO robot from ROS2 (MoveIt2 and Gazebo simulator).

1. Overview

The DENSO robot ROS2 stack contains packages that provide nodes for communication with DENSO industrial robot controllers (RC8/RC8A and RC9). The robot controller models that are currently supported are the following:

• RC8 controller
• RC8 controller (COBOTTA - not OSS)
• RC8A controller
• RC9 controller (under construction)

The supported robot models are the following:

• 4-Axis (SCARA) robots
• 5-and 6-Axis robots
• Collaborative robots (not OSS type)

Moreover, the DENSO robot ROS2 stack provides URDF models for COBOTTA and VS-060 robotic arms and associated MoveIt2 configuration packages (as standard components). To control other robot types, see the ROS2Converter page (under construction) for creating the URDF model and the associated MoveIt2 configuration package.

2. Packages in the Repository

Robot control packages:

• bcap_core - core libraries for b-CAP communication protocol
• bcap_service_interfaces - messages and services used by the bcap_core node
• bcap_service - ROS2 node for low-level communication with robot controller through b-CAP protocol
• denso_robot_core_interfaces - actions and messages used by the denso_robot_core node
• denso_robot_core - ROS2 node that exposes Controller, Robot, Variables, Task classes
• denso_robot_control - hardware interface that exposes planning and control functions for a real DENSO robot

Robot descriptions package:

• denso_robot_desciptions - description files for specific DENSO robot models (meshes, URDF, etc.)

Motion planning packages:

• denso_robot_moveit_config - MoveIt2 configuration files for specific DENSO robot models (SRDF, controller types, etc.)
• denso_robot_moveit_demo - ROS2 node for moving a robot (both simulated and real) using the MoveIt2 motion planner (8 fixed positions, according to the robot model)

Startup package:

• denso_robot_bringup - main launch files and configuration settings

3. Installation

1. Install ROS2 Humble

2. Make sure that colcon, its extensions and vcs are installed:

   sudo apt install python3-colcon-common-extensions python3-vcstool
   

1. Create a new ROS2 workspace:

   export COLCON_WS=~/workspace/denso_ros2_ws
   mkdir -p $COLCON_WS/src
   

1. Pull denso_robot_ros2 packages:

   cd $COLCON_WS
   git clone -b humble https://github.com/DENSORobot/denso_robot_ros2.git src/denso_robot_drivers_ros2
   vcs import src --skip-existing --input src/denso_robot_drivers_ros2/denso_robot_drivers_ros2.repos
   

1. To use MoveIt2, install the required packages (binary installation, Humble version).

2. Install dependencies (if not already installed):

   sudo apt install ros-humble-ros2-control
   sudo apt install ros-humble-ros2-controllers
   

1. Compile and source the workspace:

   rosdep install --ignore-src --from-paths src -y -r
   colcon build --cmake-args -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
   source install/setup.bash
   

4. Controller Preparation

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