samankim / object_experiments

Scripts for generating XBox Kinect streams tracking interactions between a robot arm and various objects

Object Experiments

The object_experiments package contains scripts for running experiments involving the UR10. Launching the file experiment.launch will initialize communication with the UR10 and the Kinects, record a rosbag of all currently running topics, run pre-defined choreography on the UR10 that may interact with objects on the experiment surface, and automatically stop the rosbag recording.

To run an experiment:

1. Turn on the UR10 and initialize it
   1. Press power button
   2. When dialog box pops up, press "Go to initialization screen"
   3. Press "ON"
   4. Press "START"
2. Place necessary objects for experiment inside UR10 gripper prior to running the script (e.g. pick up pencil for "knock_blocks" experiment)
3. Run $ roslaunch object_experiments experiment.launch
4. Wait for initialization to be complete
5. Call your desired choreography using: $ rosservice call /start_experiment "choreography:'desired-choreography-name'"

To add new choreography:

1. Navigate to the object_experiments/scripts folder
2. Open 'move_group_python_interface.py' in your preferred text editor
3. Under the MoveGroupPythonInterface class, add another function with the name of your choreography. The 'knock_blocks' choreography is there as an example.
4. You may define a series of pose goals and joint states that the UR10 will execute, along with the desired velocity and acceleration of the movement.
5. In the execute_choreography function, add another if/elif statement detailing the name that will call your new choreography.

elif goal.choreography.data == "name-of-choreography"
  robot_commander.choreography-function-name()

To change the directory to which bagfiles are saved/topics to record:

1. Navigate to the object_experiments/scripts folder
2. Open 'rosbag_recording.py' in your preferred text editor
3. Under the function choreography_client, change the variable command to read:

to record some topics: command = rosbag record -o your-desired-bagfile-directory.../bagfile-name-prefix [topics-to-record]

to record all topics: command = rosbag record -a -o your-desired-bagfile-directory.../bagfile-name-prefix

To hard-code a new pose in 'move_group_python_interface.py':

1. Move the robot to the desired pose using the teaching pendant, calling commands using the MoveIt commander, or running a script using experiment.launch.
2. Call $ rosservice call /start_experiment "choreography:'get_formatted_current_pose'". This will generate text with the description of the current pose.
3. The generated text can then be copied and pasted into 'move_group_python_interface.py' with the precise description of the robot's pose. Replace your_pose_name with the desired name of the recorded pose.

To install

1. Download the package to ~/catkin_ws/src
2. Navigate back to ~/catkin_ws ($ cd ..)
3. Run catkin_make

Necessary packages

• apriltags_ros
• iai_kinect2
• rad_ur10_stack (Note: does not fully compile)
• robotiq (Note: not necessary to run experiments, contains models of the gripper. Also does not fully compile.)
• MultiKinect (/Bishop/MultiKinect)