Getting Started with Simulation

Rethink Robotics provides an sdk with Moveit, where the baxter 3D model is designed and released to use with Moveit Ros Package.

Indigo

Install catkin tools to use catkin build in catkin workspace

sudo apt-get install python-catkin-tools

If using Indigo simply follow these for simulation:http://sdk.rethinkrobotics.com/wiki/Simulator_Installation

And to use moveit with it follow these http://sdk.rethinkrobotics.com/wiki/MoveIt_Tutorial

cd catkin_ws
./baxter.sh sim 
roslaunch baxter_gazebo baxter_world.launch #to start simulator in gazebo
#new terminal everytime and ./baxter.sh sim everytime
rosrun baxter_tools enable_robot.py -e   #enable the robot
rosrun baxter_examples joint_velocity_wobbler.py #wobble the arms
rosrun baxter_interface joint_trajectory_action_server.py #start the action server
roslaunch baxter_moveit_config baxter_grippers.launch #start moveit with rviz

Youtube Tutorials

Kinetic

1.Baxter sdk which contains urdfs and description files https://github.com/RethinkRobotics/baxter_common

2. Clone Moveit robots packages into your workspace, it contains Urdf models of the robots. Also Inverse Kinematics solver for the robot.

cd catkin_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/ros-planning/moveit_robots.git
cd ..
catkin build

3.If you are using ROS kinetic or jade, you might have to check this link for dependencies of Moveit, as these were not included into kinetic while I am writing this tutorial mongo driver was not included http://moveit.ros.org/install/source/dependencies/

4. Bug with ros kinetic

roscd baxter_moveit_config
cd launch
gedit warehouse.launch

change the package to warehouse_ros_mongo to point that mongo wrapper.py properly

5. If you get error for not installing moveit core, then you should install move it.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install ros-kinetic-moveit

6.

Working with real robot

1. Change your ip and robot name in ./baxter.sh

2. Enable the robot

./baxter.sh
rosrun baxter_tools enable_robot.py -e

3. If you want to use moveit and run the robot from rviz

./baxter.sh
rosrun baxter_examples joint_velocity_wobbler.py #wobble the arms
rosrun baxter_interface joint_trajectory_action_server.py #start the action server
roslaunch baxter_moveit_config baxter_grippers.launch #start moveit with rviz

Motion Capture

1. Download vicon linux data stream sdk from vicon website https://www.vicon.com/downloads/utilities-and-sdks/datastream-sdk/vicon-linux-datastream-sdk-15

2. Extract and go to Linux_DataStreamSDK1_5/Linux64-boost-1.53.0/20020409_73878h/Release

3. Then Run ./ViconDataStreamSDK_CPPTest (ip of the desktop that running vicon software)

Note: you should run go live in the software to start the stream

Using Sdk with cpp video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4D4jKnTSSk

There is ros package called vicon_bridge built by Eth Zurich https://github.com/ethz-asl/vicon_bridge to publish as ros message

Edit the ip in the vicon.launch file Example:

roslaunch vicon_bridge vicon.launch