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Running PR2 Counterbalance Check

Description: Shows how to run the counterbalance adjustment test on the PR2.

Tutorial Level: ADVANCED

Overview

Over time, the counterbalance on your PR2 will go out of adjustment. It is important to tune the counterbalance periodically. The counterbalance is adjusted by tuning the secondary spring, and the arm gimbal shaft.

The PR2 counterbalance adjustment tool allows you to estimate the counterbalance adjustment required to return the arm to the minimum torque state.

Note: Complete instructions for adjusting the PR2 counterbalance are available at support.willowgarage.com. These instructions are for running adjustment check program only. Do not proceed without understanding the procedures at support.willowgarage.com. Adjusting the counterbalance is a risky activity and can cause harm to you and the PR2.

Running the CB Check Tool

To run the counterbalance check tool, you will need to launch the robot. The CB check tool is released against cturtle only, so start the robot with cturtle.

After the robot starts up, verify that all the joints are calibrated. Start up the joystick, and drive the spine up to the maximum height.

roslaunch pr2_teleop teleop_joystick.launch

Pre-start Checklist

Before you check the CB adjustment, make sure you have completed these steps:

  • Spine is UP

  • Both arms of robot have 5' of clear space
  • Shoulder pan joints are separated by 90 degrees, arms can't collide
  • Foam covers installed on arms
  • Robot WAN port is plugged in (for display tool)

Note: Failure to complete these steps may cause damage to the PR2 or personal injury.

Launching the Adjustment Controller

To launch the adjustment controller, you will have to load a launch file that holds the arms in place, and runs a check command on the arms.

roslaunch pr2_counterbalance_check counterbalance_test_[left|right].launch

The arm controllers should take 1-2 minutes each to gather data on the arms. During this test, they will shake the arms to break static friction. This is normal, do not abort the test for shaking.

Getting CB Adjustment

While the counterbalance test is still running but after the arm has stopped moving, use the cb_check.py tool in pr2_counterbalance_check to get the proper adjustment,

rosrun pr2_counterbalance_check cb_check.py `rospack find pr2_counterbalance_check`/cb_data/counterbalance_model.dat

This tool will use training data to analyze the PR2 counterbalance and recommend an adjustment. The output of the tool will look like this:

Calculated counterbalance adjustment:
        Secondary Spring: 3.0 (CCW)
        Arm Gimbal Shaft: 0.4 (CCW)
Make sure to follow proper adjustment procedures if you choose to make an adjustment.

For the above, you would turn the secondary spring 3.0 turns CCW (counter-clockwise) and the arm gimbal shaft 0.4 turns CCW.

You can check the recommended tolerance using the -t option.

$ rosrun pr2_counterbalance_check cb_check.py -t
Recommended CB tolerances for secondary spring, arm gimbal shaft
        Secondary spring: +/-2.0
        Arm Gimbal Shaft: +/-0.8
If your recommended adjustment is less than this many turns, do not adjust your CB

Note: Choosing to adjust your PR2 counterbalance is your decision. The tolerances are only recommendations.

Training Data

In order to recommend an adjustment, the cb_check.py tool needs training data. The recommended data is in pr2_counterbalance_check/cb_data. If you have an non-standard arm configuration, you can record your own training data with pr2_counterbalance_check/training/counterbalance_training.py. Instructions to do this are in the usage of that node.

Recording training data is for advanced users only. Do not attempt to record training data.

Checking Counterbalance Post-Adjustment

In most cases, the adjustment tool will recommend an adjustment that is correct in one try. You should always recheck the counterbalance to make sure that the adjustment tool did not malfunction. Follow the above instructions to re-run the adjustment tool after you have adjusted the counterbalance.

Wiki: pr2_self_test/Tutorials/RunningPR2CounterbalanceTest (last edited 2010-11-17 01:54:14 by KevinWatts)