Demo Scripts

This section describes the demo scripts that come with the Trossen Arm driver.

What You Need

To get started, please make sure you have gone through the Configuration.

Scripting Philosophy

A high level overview of scripting with the Trossen Arm driver is given here. The driver is designed to be flexible and easy to use for a wide range of applications.

// Include the header files
#include <vector>
#include "libtrossen_arm/trossen_arm.hpp"

int main(int argc, char** argv)
{
  // Create a driver object
  trossen_arm::TrossenArmDriver driver;

  // Configure the driver
  driver.configure(...);

  // Beginning of an action

  //   Get the modes of all joints if needed
  //   Here xxxs are the modes of all the joints where xxx can be
  //   - trossen_arm.Mode.position
  //   - trossen_arm.Mode.velocity
  //   - trossen_arm.Mode.external_effort
  auto xxxs = driver.get_modes();

  //   Set the mode[s] of the joint[s]
  //   Here yyy can be arm, gripper, all, or joint where
  //   - all includes all the joints
  //   - arm includes all joints but the gripper joint
  //   - gripper includes just the gripper joint
  //   - joint includes a specific zero-indexed joint
  driver.set_yyy_mode[s](xxx);

  //   Start moving the joint[s]

  //     Some logic

  //     Command the joint[s]
  //     Here yyy and zzz must be compatible with the mode set above
  //     A command includes
  //     - goal[s]
  //     - time to reach the goal[s]
  //     - whether to block until reaching goal[s]
  //     - optionally the goal derivative[s]
  driver.set_yyy_zzz[s](...);

  //     Get the states of the joint[s] if needed
  //     Here zzzs can be
  //     - positions
  //     - velocities
  //     - efforts
  //     - external_efforts
  std::vector<float> zzzs = driver.get_zzzs();

  //     Some more logic

  //   Stop moving the joint[s]

  // End of an action

  // More actions if needed
}

# Import the driver
import trossen_arm

if __name__ == "__main__":
    # Create a driver object
    driver = trossen_arm.TrossenArmDriver()

    # Configure the driver
    driver.configure(...)

    # Beginning of an action

    #     Get the modes of all joints if needed
    #     Here xxxs are the modes of all the joints where xxx can be
    #     - trossen_arm.Mode.position
    #     - trossen_arm.Mode.velocity
    #     - trossen_arm.Mode.external_effort
    xxxs = driver.get_modes()

    #     Set the mode[s] of the joint[s]
    #     Here yyy can be arm, gripper, all, or joint where
    #     - all includes all the joints
    #     - arm includes all joints but the gripper joint
    #     - gripper includes just the gripper joint
    #     - joint includes a specific zero-indexed joint
    driver.set_yyy_mode[s](xxx)

    #     Start moving the joint[s]

    #         Some logic

    #         Command the joint[s]
    #         Here yyy and zzz must be compatible with the mode set above
    #         A command includes
    #         - goal[s]
    #         - time to reach the goal[s]
    #         - whether to block until reaching goal[s]
    #         - optionally the goal derivative[s]
    driver.set_yyy_zzz[s](...)

    #         Get the states of the joint[s] if needed
    #         Here zzzs can be
    #         - positions
    #         - velocities
    #         - efforts
    #         - external_efforts
    zzzs = driver.get_zzzs()

    #         Some more logic

    #     Stop moving the joint[s]

    # End of an action

    # More actions if needed

Demos

After understanding the scripting philosophy, specific demos are provided to ground the concepts. Demos of three levels of complexity are provided with the driver.

Basics 

The basic demos show the must-know functionalities to get the arm up and running.

This script demonstrates how to configure and cleanup the driver. This is useful for switching between different arms without creating a new driver object. This script also demonstrates how to access the driver’s states and configurations.

gravity_compensation 

This script demonstrates how to do gravity compensation. This is useful for manually moving the arm to teach a trajectory or record specific positions.

gripper_torque 

This script demonstrates how to open and close the gripper.

set_mode 

This script demonstrates how to set the mode of the robot.

simple_move 

This script demonstrates how to move a robot to different positions.

Intermediate 

The intermediate demos give examples on commonly-used configurations and application-specific control loops.

configuration_in_yaml 

This script demonstrates how to exchange persistent configurations via a YAML file.

error_recovery 

This script demonstrates how to recover from an error in the driver.

move 

This script demonstrates how to write a control loop to move the robot to different positions and record the states.

move_two 

This script demonstrates how to move two robots to different positions using interpolation.

set_factory_reset_flag 

This script demonstrates how to reset all configuration options to their default values.

set_ip_method 

This script demonstrates how to set the IP method to DHCP or MANUAL.

set_manual_ip 

This script demonstrates how to set the manual IP address.

teleoperation 

This script demonstrates how to teleoperate the robots with force feedback.

Advanced 

The advanced demos show configurations that should be used with full understanding the implications.

set_joint_characteristics 

This script demonstrates how to set the joint characteristics in the EEPROM, using the effort corrections as an example.

What’s Next

Hopefully, the provided demos have put you at a good starting point for developing your own applications. For more details on the driver API, please refer to the Trossen Arm Driver API.