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iiQKA_EAC

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Pucciland95 edited this page Jan 24, 2024 · 8 revisions

iiQKA driver (EAC)

Setup

Client side

  • It is recommended to use the driver on a real-time capable client machine (further information about setting up the PREEMPT_RT patch can be found here).
  • The driver depends on some KUKA-specific packages, which are only available with the real robot, therefore a mock mode is provided to enable trying out solutions with the same components running.
    • By default, the mock libraries are used, this can be changed in the CmakeLists.txt file by setting MOCK_KUKA_LIBS to FALSE before building.
  • Set a fixed IP in the subnet of the KONI interface for the real-time machine.

Controller side

  • Install ExternalAPI.Control toolbox (requires iiQKA 1.2)
  • Set KONI IP (System Settings -> Network -> KONI) + restart
  • Connect external client to KONI port (XF7)
  • Release SPOC on the Teach Pendant

Configuration

Configuration files

The following configuration files are available in the config directory of the package:

  • driver_config.yaml: contains runtime parameters of the robot_manager node
  • qos_config.yaml: contains the configuration options for the QoS profile defining the connection quality (description later)
  • ros2_controller_config.yaml: contains the controller types for every controller name. Should be only modified if a different controller is to be used. The configure_components_on_start parameter should never be modified, which ensures that the hardware interface is not activated at startup.
  • configuration files for specific controllers (for further information, see the documentation of the given controller)
QoS profile configuration

It is possible to configure the required connection quality of external control using a QoS profile, which defines under which conditions should external control be terminated in case of packet losses. A packet is considered lost if the controller does not receive a command in 2.5 milliseconds after publishing the state. In case of a packet loss, extrapolation is used to optimize the robot behaviour, unless the limits defined in the profile are violated. Two limits can be defined:

  • Consequent packet losses allowed, defined by consequent_lost_packets parameter, maximum value is 5
  • Allowed packet losses in given timeframe: defined by lost_packets_in_timeframe (maximum value is 25) and timeframe_ms parameters, maximum ratio is 25/sec

Runtime parameters

The parameters in the driver configuration file can be also changed during runtime using the parameter interface of the robot_manager node:

  • control_mode: The enum value of the control mode should be given. It can be changed in all primary states, but in active state the brakes are always closed before control is started in a new mode.
  • position_controller_name: The name of the controller (string) that controls the position interface of the robot. It can't be changed in active state.
  • impedance_controller_name: The name of the controller (string) that controls the stiffness and damping interfaces of the robot. It can't be changed in active state.
  • torque_controller_name: The name of the controller (string) that controls the effort interface of the robot. It can't be changed in active state.

IP Configuration

The IP address of the client machine and robot controller must be provided as a launch argument. For further information see section launch arguments.

Usage

Starting the driver

To start the driver, two launch file are available, with and without rviz. To launch (without rviz), run:

ros2 launch kuka_iiqka_eac_driver startup.launch.py client_ip:=0.0.0.0 controller_ip:=0.0.0.0

This starts the 3 core components of every driver (described in the Non-real-time interface section of the project overview) and the following controllers:

After successful startup, the robot_manager node has to be activated to start the cyclic communication with the robot controller (before this only a collapsed robot is visible in rviz):

ros2 lifecycle set robot_manager configure
ros2 lifecycle set robot_manager activate

On successful activation the brakes of the robot will be released and external control is started using the requested control mode. To test moving the robot, the rqt_joint_trajectory_controller is not recommended, use the launch file in the iiqka_moveit_example package instead (usage is described in the Additional packages section of the project overview).

Launch arguments

Both launch files support the following arguments:

  • client_ip: IP address of the client machine
  • controller_ip: KONI IP of the controller
  • robot_model: defines which LBR iisy robot to use. Available options: lbr_iisy3_r760 (default), lbr_iisy11_r1300, lbr_iisy15_r930
  • use_fake_hardware: if true, the mock_components/GenericSystem will be used instead of the KukaEACHardwareInterface. This enables trying out the driver without actual hardware.
  • namespace: adds a namespace to all nodes and controllers of the driver, and modifies the prefix argument of the robot description macro to namespace_
  • x, y, z: define the position of base_link relative to the world frame (default: [0, 0, 0])
  • roll, pitch, yaw: define the orientation of base_link relative to the world frame (default: [0, 0, 0])
  • qos_config: the location of the QoS configuration file (defaults to kuka_iiqka_eac_driver/config/qos_config.yaml)
  • controller_config: the location of the ros2_control configuration file (defaults to kuka_iiqka_eac_driver/config/ros2_controller_config.yaml)
  • jtc_config: the location of the configuration file for the joint_trajectory_controller (defaults to kuka_iiqka_eac_driver/config/joint_trajectory_controller_config.yaml)
  • jic_config: the location of the configuration file for the joint_impedance_controller (defaults to kuka_iiqka_eac_driver/config/joint_impedance_controller_config.yaml)
  • ec_config: the location of the configuration file for the effort_controller (defaults to kuka_iiqka_eac_driver/config/effort_controller_config.yaml)

The startup_with_rviz.launch.py additionally contains one argument:

  • rviz_config: the location of the rviz configuration file (defaults to kuka_resources/config/view_6_axis_urdf.rviz)

Stopping external control

To stop external control, all components have to be deactivated with ros2 lifecycle set robot_manager deactivate

BEWARE, that this is a non-realtime process including lifecycle management, so the connection is not terminated immediately, in cases where an abrupt stop is needed, the safety stop of the Teach Pendant should be used! (This will also deactivate all components to allow reactivation without a restart.)

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