Control and read sensors of OnRobot RG2-FT gripper mounted to a UR5 robot arm using ROS2

asked 2022-02-18 10:37:17 -0600

benedikt
1 ●1 ●2 ●4

updated 2022-02-21 07:04:33 -0600

Hello there,

I would like to control the OnRobot RG2-FT gripper from a remote PC, so that the gripper is closing/opening to a certain width in order to grasp and place objects. Furthermore, the gripper has force-torque sensors and proximity sensors installed in the finger tips. I've seen some approaches to control the RG2 gripper (similar gripper without sensors), but they seem to be unnecessarily complicated (like using URCap Scripts or a Weblogic server) or just related to simulation. So I was wondering if there is no easier solution that I haven't seen, especially because there are a bunch of ROS1/ROS2 packages from Universal Robots out there, such as the Universal_Robots_ROS2_Driver and the Universal_Robots_ROS_Driver. In addition, I haven't seen any implementation to get the sensor readings of the RG2-FT. Before purchasing such an expensive gripper, I would like to make sure that I can actually use it with ROS2.

What I've found so far:

ROS Answers

Universal Robots Forum

OnRobot Gripper

ROS packages

Universal_Robots_ROS_as_a_Service_URCap
Universal_Robots_ToolComm_Forwarder_URCap -> only for e-series

My current setup:

Hardware

OnRobot RG2-FT gripper (not purchased yet)
Universal Robots UR5 (not the e version)

Software

ROS2 Galactic
URDF, SDF and SRDF models for the UR5 with RG2 gripper derived from Universal_Robots_ROS2_Description and AndrejOrsula /ur5_rg2_ign
Moveit2 for motion planning
RVIZ2 with Moveit2 plugin to test predefined goal poses or using the interactive marker
Ignition Fortress with ignitionrobotics/ign_ros2_control and Universal_Robots_ROS2_Ignition_Simulation for the physics simulation and as test environment

I appreciate some help. I would prefer a solution suitable for ROS2, but a solution with ROS1 should work as well using a ros1_bridge. Thanks for your help.

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Comments

Since you don't have “e” version, you should probably connect the gripper directly. If there are no drivers for it, then you have to write those. If you are going that path, I recommend doing an effort to integrate this properly into ros2_control so you can use standard controllers and interfaces. Also, later will not matter how gripper is connected to your computer.

destogl ( 2022-02-23 05:10:46 -0600 )edit

Thank you. From what I've learned so far, I think as well that a direct connection is better than taking a detour through URCaps.

benedikt ( 2022-03-01 05:00:34 -0600 )edit

Then if you need any help with setting up the ros2_control driver for the gripper let me know.

destogl ( 2022-03-02 06:33:46 -0600 )edit

Hey could you write a ros2 driver for the RG2-FT? If yes, did you write the ros2 driver using a ros_bridge for the RG2-FT or did you decide to change the gripper to the regular RG2/VG10 variant? Please do let me know as i am interested in using this gripper along with my UR10E as well and am willing to help you out in writing the ros2 driver to make the process faster.

anujros2noob ( 2022-06-20 09:44:00 -0600 )edit

I've just received a RG2-FT gripper for testing purposes for a limited amount of time. At the moment I'm working on adding ROS1 support to takuya-ki's driver, because the Modbus registers are different in comparison to the RG2 gripper. For more details you can check out this manual (RG2 -> p.60, RG2-FT -> p.62). When it works you could port it to ROS2.

benedikt ( 2022-06-21 02:48:18 -0600 )edit

Alright thank you for replying. Hey by the way could I help you in any way to quicken this process of adding ROS support for the RG2-FT gripper?

anujros2noob ( 2022-06-21 03:09:33 -0600 )edit

Thanks for the offer, but at the moment we're good.

benedikt ( 2022-06-21 06:55:51 -0600 )edit

Hey @benedikt ! I request you to leave a message here when the driver is ready so that I get notified and can start using it :)

anujros2noob ( 2022-06-23 02:59:49 -0600 )edit

see more comments

answered 2022-02-23 06:30:49 -0600

takuya-ki

1 ●1 https://takuya-ki.github.io/

Another solution is to directly control the grippers using Modbus/TCP without the controller of UR robot. My ROS pkg tested with RG6 and VGC10 might be helpful for your purpose.

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Comments

Thank you, this should work similarly for the RG2-FT. Is it possible to control the RG6 gripper with your package and the robot arm with the ros driver at the same time?

Just to clarify the cabling and the network setup:

OnRobot's Compute Box is required for your setup, right? So the cabling from gripper to ROS PC looks like: RG6 ->(Tool data cable)-> OnRobot Compute Box ->(Ethernet cable)-> ROS PC
The gripper, the robot arm, OnRobot's Compute Box and the ROS PC are in the same network, all configured with a static IP. Is this correct?

benedikt ( 2022-03-01 04:57:01 -0600 )edit

Is it possible to control the RG6 gripper with your package and the robot arm with the ros driver at the same time?
Yes, but currently the pkg depends on ROS Noetic (Python 3) so if you need pkgs for Kinetic and/or Melodic please let me know. I can make them for you.
OnRobot's Compute Box is required for your setup, right? So the cabling from gripper to ROS PC looks like: RG6 ->(Tool data cable)-> OnRobot Compute Box ->(Ethernet cable)-> ROS PC
Yes, that is correct. We need one OnRobot's compute box to control one gripper.
The gripper, the robot arm, OnRobot's Compute Box and the ROS PC are in the same network, all configured with a static IP. Is this correct?
Yes, it is also correct. They must be in same network.

takuya-ki ( 2022-03-01 05:07:53 -0600 )edit

Thanks for your quick reply. So far I'm working with ROS2 Galactic and might switch to ROS2 Humble when it's released, because it's the next LTS version. I'm not sure how much effort it is to adjust your package to ROS2. If it's too much work I would go with a ROS1 bridge to ROS1 Noetic.

benedikt ( 2022-03-01 05:36:34 -0600 )edit

I ported the VG drivers to ROS2, however I am looking for a way to control the gripper through the UR drivers, since I don't use the Onrobot's compute box. Could you guide me on how to do this @takuya-ki ?

AlexandrosNic ( 2022-07-28 08:16:13 -0600 )edit

Hey @AlexandrosNic have you successfully control the Onrobot's gripper through the UR drivers? I have the same issue, I want to control it without the Onrobot's compute box.

pala5 ( 2023-06-02 04:32:55 -0600 )edit

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Control and read sensors of OnRobot RG2-FT gripper mounted to a UR5 robot arm using ROS2

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