Run UR5e Robot on ROS2 Humble Using Docker

This README provides a streamlined setup process for running a UR5e robot (the ones available in our lab) using ROS2 Humble and Docker.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed:

• Docker
• Docker Compose

Setup Instructions

1. Create a Directory to store this repository

2. Clone the Repository

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd <repository-directory>
   

3. Build the Docker Containers
   When running for the first time, build the necessary Docker containers. From the cloned repository directory, execute:

   docker compose build
   

   This process may take approximately 20 minutes.

4. Run the System After the build completes, you can start the system. Use the command below to run both the ur_control and ur_moveit containers. Replace XXX.XXX.X.XXX with the actual IP address of your UR5e robot:

   ROBOT_IP=XXX.XXX.X.XXX docker compose up ur_control ur_moveit
   

   Note: If you intend to include ROS_DOMAIN_ID, add ROS_DOMAIN_ID=X at the start of the command. ROS_DOMAIN_ID can be of any length, though it has to be a unique string. If you plan to develop scripts to command the robot, add the hello_moveit container to the command above. This container sets up the necessary configurations and launching the nodes required to operate a UR5e robot with MoveIt, a motion planning framework for ROS. Note: If you encounter the following error message:

   Error response from daemon: failed to create task for container: failed to create shim task: OCI runtime create failed: runc create failed: unable to start container process: exec: "/entrypoint.sh": permission denied: unknown
   

   Resolve this by making the entrypoint scripts executable. Navigate to the directory containing the entrypoint files and run:

   chmod +x entrypoint.sh devel_entrypoint.sh
   

   After adjusting the permissions, repeat Steps 3 and 4. The startup process should complete more quickly this time.