Changelog

Upcoming

1.8.3

Trossen Arm Driver

• Added new models trossen_arm::Model::vxai_v0_left and trossen_arm::Model::vxai_v0_right. These models are 7-DOF arms to be released in the future. All features except for the Cartesian space inputs are supported.

• Adjusted UDP message lost logging behavior to avoid flooding the terminal. The driver now only warns when there are more than 1000 messages lost among each 5000 messages.

• Added initial implementation for custom end effectors. The original rack-and-pinion gripper can be removed or replaced with a custom end effector. For more details, see End Effector.

Trossen Arm Controller Firmware

• Refactored the model definition to reduce repeated logic for different motors.

• Added the new models.

• Allowed removing the original rack-and-pinion end effector or replacing it with a custom one.

1.8.2

Trossen Arm Driver

• Moved the default tool frame from a point on the contacting surfaces to the tips of the fingers.

• Added pre-run trajectory check to trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::set_cartesian_positions(). Now the driver by default samples 1000 points on the trajectory and checks if they have the corresponding inverse kinematics solutions before moving.

• Added a demo for configuring joint limits. It is available in set_joint_limits.

• Fixed two issues related to mixed interpolation spaces and updated the demo mixed_interpolation_space.

  • Using joint space commands immediately after Cartesian space commands no longer causes unexpected behavior. (trossen_arm#78)

  • Using Cartesian space commands immediately after setting to the corresponding mode no longer causes unexpected behavior.

Warning

Trossen Arm Driver 1.8.1 has been yanked due to potentially unsafe behavior on mode switching.

Trossen Arm Controller Firmware

• Update default configurations to more reasonable values.

  • Increased trossen_arm::JointLimit::velocity_max for the wrist joints from 2 \(\pi\) rad/s to 3 \(\pi\) rad/s.

  • Increased trossen_arm::PIDParameter::imax in trossen_arm::Mode::idle mode for joint 1 from 9 Nm to 27 Nm so the arm can hold itself when extended horizontally.

1.8.1

Trossen Arm Driver

• Updated mode switching logic to no longer skip joints whose mode did not change.

  This resolves trossen_arm#71, which caused unexpected arm movement during mode transitions.

  The root cause was that the interpolation space resets to joint mode, requiring the interpolator to also reset. Without this, Cartesian values could be incorrectly interpreted as joint values.

Warning

Trossen Arm Driver 1.8.0 has been yanked due to potentially unsafe behavior on mode switching.

Trossen Arm Controller Firmware

• Skip limit checks in idle mode.

1.8.0

Trossen Arm Driver

• Added a new trossen_arm::Mode::effort mode. It allows commanding the effort of the joints without any built-in compensation like in the trossen_arm::Mode::external_effort mode. This mode is useful for applications where full control of the joint efforts is desired.

• Grouped the outputs into a single new class trossen_arm::RobotOutput and added the additional fields below:

  • trossen_arm::RobotOutput::Joint::All::compensation_efforts

  • trossen_arm::RobotOutput::Joint::All::rotor_temperatures

  • trossen_arm::RobotOutput::Joint::All::driver_temperatures

  • trossen_arm::RobotOutput::Cartesian::positions

  • trossen_arm::RobotOutput::Cartesian::velocities

  • trossen_arm::RobotOutput::Cartesian::external_efforts

• Added helpful output getters to extract the members of trossen_arm::RobotOutput.

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_all_positions()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_arm_positions()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_gripper_position()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_joint_position()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_cartesian_positions()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_all_velocities()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_arm_velocities()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_gripper_velocity()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_joint_velocity()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_cartesian_velocities()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_all_efforts()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_arm_efforts()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_gripper_effort()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_joint_effort()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_all_external_efforts()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_arm_external_efforts()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_gripper_external_effort()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_joint_external_effort()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_cartesian_external_efforts()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_all_compensation_efforts()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_arm_compensation_efforts()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_gripper_compensation_effort()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_joint_compensation_effort()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_all_rotor_temperatures()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_arm_rotor_temperatures()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_gripper_rotor_temperature()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_joint_rotor_temperature()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_all_driver_temperatures()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_arm_driver_temperatures()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_gripper_driver_temperature()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_joint_driver_temperature()

  The old getters are deprecated and will be removed in the next major release.

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_positions()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_velocities()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_efforts()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_external_efforts()

  • trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver::get_compensation_efforts()

• Added methods for commanding Cartesian inputs with respect to a tool frame. These features are demonstrated in the scripts listed below:

  • cartesian_position

  • cartesian_velocity

  • cartesian_external_effort

• Added the capability to soft reboot the controller via the driver. This feature is demonstrated in set_factory_reset_flag.

• Added more configurations and revised some previous ones.

  • Added

    • Joint Limits

    • Motor Parameters

    • Algorithm Parameter

    • trossen_arm::EndEffector::pitch_circle_radius

    • trossen_arm::EndEffector::t_flange_tool

  • Removed

    • continuity_factor in trossen_arm::JointCharacteristic

    • t_max_factor in trossen_arm::EndEffector

• Made driver-controller connection more user-friendly with retry, timeout, and allowing interruption.

• For C++ users, double is now used instead of float for all the data types. This improves compatibility with other modern libraries.

Trossen Arm Controller Firmware

• Added the associated interface for the new effort mode.

• Added rotor and driver temperatures to the output.

• Added the associated interface for soft reboot.

• Exposed the associated interfaces for the new configurations.

• Added checks on outputs according to the joint limits and on inputs for infinite values.

• Removed deprecated continuity check.

• The connection, disconnection, and data exchange is now handled more robustly.

  • UDP is only used for control and TCP handles the rest of the communication.

  • The controller now return to idle mode if the connection is lost.

  • The controller now only accept one driver at a time.

• Revised default configurations to more reasonable values, more specifically

  • Joint Limits

  • Motor Parameters