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Controlling the Komodo arm

Operate the arm

See dynamixel_controllers for package details.

To move a specific arm joint, publish the desired angle in radians to the joint controller command topic, e.g. /komodo_<ID>/base_rotation_controller/command

The arm joint controllers from bottom upwards are:

base_rotation_controller

shoulder_controller

elbow1_controller

elbow2_controller

wrist_controller

right_finger_controller

left_finger_controller

Check the ric/ric_robot/config/komodo_arm.yaml file for additional controllers configurations such as max speed and max torque. Do not change the min and max motor limits.

Check the controllers state topic for joint state information e.g. /komodo_<ID>/base_rotation_controller/state. Joint states information is also avilable on the /komodo_<ID>/motor_states/arm_port topic (you can also monitor the arm battery voltage using this topic).

Operate the elevator

Before any operation of the elevator, you must run the elevator homing procedure by calling the home service elevator_controller/home. the dir argument allows to choose the homing direcetion (dir=1 -> UP, dir=-1 -> DOWN). Wait for the elevator to reach the lower or upper micro-switch and report that the homing is done. Now you can control the elevator using the /elevator_controller/pos_command topic. The elevator range is 0-0.4 m. Keep in mind that if you launched the robot launch file while the elevator was on one of the micro-switches, the homing procedure will run automatically and you will be able to send position commands without manually running the home procedure.

Keep in mind that the elevator moving speed is slow (about 3 minutes from bottom to top position).