ROS 2 integration paths

There are different paths to use a Universal Robots arm with ROS 2.

ROS 2 on the robot

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  1. Starting with PolyScope X v10.7.0 the robots have builtin ROS 2 support that allows some amount of interaction with the robot without the need of any ROS 2 driver. In particular, the robot publishes a lot of status information and offers services for example to control the robot’s I/O ports. See the Topics and Services overview for more information.

  2. Starting with PolyScope X v10.7.0 there is basic URScript support for ROS 2. This allows publishing to and subscribing from ROS 2 topics directly in URScript as well as calling ROS 2 services and actions from URScript. See Basic Usage in URScript for details on that.

Note

The builtin ROS 2 support will only be compatible with the ROS distribution running on the robot. For example, PolyScope 10.7.0 is running ROS 2 Humble. It should not be used with any other distribution.

Control the robot from an external ROS 2 application

Visualizing a robot workspace using ROS 2

To control your robot using ROS 2, you can utilize the ur_robot_driver, an Open-Source ROS 2 driver that is maintained by Universal Robots and offers full compatibility with ros2_control. This driver allows you to visualize the robot’s state in RViz and control its motions through ROS 2. It supports CB3, e-Series, and PolyScope X robots.

By leveraging the ROS 2 driver, you can build your own application on the ROS framework. This includes integrating drivers for other hardware components, incorporating sensors, and utilizing ready-to-use software functionalities such as collision-aware path planning.

The ROS 2 driver communicates with the robot using the ur_client_library.

Build your own external application using the C++ library

With the standalone C++ library “ur_client_library” you can control a UR robot from a remote application. It offers a lot of the functionality that traditionally the robot’s teach pendant would be used for. This includes

  • Controlling the robot’s power state

  • Controlling the robot’s motion

  • Controlling the robot’s I/O ports

  • Access to low-level interfaces such as the Primary Interface, Dashboard Interface and the Realtime Data Exchange (RTDE).