hera_description

This package contains the URDF Description model and simulation of the Home Environment Robot Assistant (HERA - 2020 version), developed by the RoboFEI@home Team in the FEI University Center.

The Home Robô HERA. Simulated (left) and real (right).

Dependencies:

• ROS (Melodic Morenia)
  • gazebo_ros
  • roslaunch
  • rviz
  • robot_state_publisher
  • joint_state_publisher
  • joint_state_publisher_gui
  • controller_manager
  • urdf
  • xacro

Launch:

There are a folder called launch, that contains files used to launch the robot using roslaunch in the ROS ecosystem.

  |-- launch
    |-- load_description.launch
    |-- vizualize_model.launch

• load_description: Used to load the robot model in ROS and Gazebo. Parameters:
  • robot_model: (string, default: hera_full) - Robot used. Available into 'robots' folder.
  • robot_name: (string, default: robot) - Robot name used as reference in simulation.
  • init_pos_x: (double, default: 0.0) - Position x of the robot in simulation.
  • init_pos_y: (double, default: 0.0) - Position y of the robot in simulation.
  • init_pos_z: (double, default: 0.0) - Position z of the robot in simulation.
  • init_yaw: (double, default: 0.0) - yaw of the robot in simulation.
  • use_jsp_gui: (boolean, default: false) - Start joint_state_publisher gui
• vizualize_model: Used to visualize the robot. Init gazebo, rviz and call load_description. Parameters:
  • robot_model: (string, default: hera_full) - Same as load_description.
  • enable_rviz: (bool, default:true) - Start rviz.
  • enable_gazebo: (bool, default:true) - Start gazebo.

Meshes:

There are a folder called meshes, that contains all meshes used to composite the robot visualization. The robot visual parts were modeled by William Yaguiu with Solidworks 2018 and SolidWorks to URDF Exporter plugin and the sensors were exported from GrabCAD Community.

  |-- meshes
    |--asus_xtion.stl
    |--base.stl
    |--head.stl
    |--hokuyo_urg.dae
    |--hokuyo_utm.stl
    |--kinect_one.stl
    |--torso.stl
    |--torso_sensor_plat.stl
    |--wheelB.stl
    |--wheelF.stl

Meshes used to compose the robot.

Robots:

Different robot versions are available.

  |-- robots
    |--hera_1.urdf.xacro
    |--hera_2.urdf.xacro
    |--hera_3.urdf.xacro
    |--hera_4.urdf.xacro
    |--hera_full.urdf.xacro

• hera_1: base
  • Links and Joints: hera_1.

Collision mode (left) and visual mode (right).

• hera_2: base + torso
  • Links and Joints: hera_2.

Collision mode (left) and visual mode (right).

• hera_3: base + torso + head
  • Links and Joints: hera_3.

Collision mode (left) and visual mode (right).

• hera_4: base + torso + manipulator (Not done yet - same as hera_3)
  
  

• hera_full: base + torso + head + manipulator (Not done yet - same as hera_3)

URDF

There are a folder called urdf, that contains all urdf code used to model the robot.

  |-- urdf
    |--actuators
      |--base.urdf.xacro
      |--head.urdf.xacro
      |--manipulator.urdf.xacro
      |--torso.urdf.xacro
    |--sensors
      |--asus_xtion.urdf.xacro
      |--hokuyo_urg.urdf.xacro
      |--hokuyo_utm.urdf.xacro
      |--kinect_one.urdf.xacro
    |--simulation
      |--colors.gazebo.xacro
      |--control.gazebo.xacro
      |--base.gazebo.xacro
      |--asus_xtion.gazebo.xacro
      |--hokuyo_urg.gazebo.xacro
      |--hokuyo_utm.gazebo.xacro
      |--kinect_one.gazebo.xacro
    |--commons.urdf.xacro

• colors: Colors used on gazebo.
• actuators: Code used in actuators.
• sensors: Code used in sensors.
• simulation: Gazebo plugins used for simulation.
• commons: Macros used in all files.

---

How to use this repository

1. Make sure do you have a ROS environment installed and ready.
2. Create your catkin workspace
3. Create a src folder in your catkin workspace (if it doesn't exist).

cd <catkin_workspace>/
mkdir src

4. Git clone this repository and install all dependencies.

cd src
git clone https://github.com/Home-Environment-Robot-Assistant/hera_descriptionn.git
sudo ./hera_description/install_dependencies.sh

5. Compile you catkin workspace.

cd <catkin_workspace>/
catkin_make
source devel/setup.bash

6. Now you are ready to run one of the launch files. Try this one:

roslaunch hera_description vizualize_model.launch

You will be able to see this interface for rviz:

RViz interface.

And this interface for gazebo:

Gazebo interface.

Tools:

• xacro: Used to convert xacro file to urdf file. ex:

  $ rosrun xacro xacro `rospack find hera_description`/robots/hera_full.urdf.xacro > hera.urdf

• check_urdf: Used to check the urdf consistency. ex:

  $ check_urdf hera.urdf

• urdf_to_graphiz: Used to generate a pdf with robot links and joints. ex:

  $ urdf_to_graphiz hera.urdf