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Welcome to SynTouch's new ROS package st_biotac. SynTouch is currently developing this package to process BioTac data collected from supported hardware (such as st_cheetah).

For more information visit: SynTouch Website

Package Summary (temp)

This package contains all messages specific to the SynTouch stack, configuration of data acquisition hardware, as well as the future home for other useful tools for programming with the BioTacs (such as a GUI, data saving utilities, and other functions relevant to the status of the BioTac).

• Authors: Abhishek Pawar, Gary Lin, and Jeremy Fishel, contact: ros@syntouchllc.com

• Maintained by: Abhishek Pawar / abhishek.pawar@syntouchllc.com

• License: GPL

• External Website: http://www.syntouchllc.com

• Source: (software currently under development)

Overview

This is the main package of the SynTouch stack for interfacing with the BioTac tactile sensor. It provides the messages used by other packages in the stack.

Planned Development

• GUI for visualizing BioTac data

• Data saving tools for exporting to CSV

ROS API

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Subscribed Topics

• biotacs/<port_name>: the BioTac data coming from the specified port (i.e. a port named "left_hand" would have the topic name" biotacs/left_hand). Each sample appears as a new message for compatibility across different hardware. The configuration properties of each port are described below.

Published Topics

Messages Explained

• BioTac_Port_Data: data published from supported acquisition hardware port. It contains:

  • float64 time_stamp

    • The time at which samples were taken in ROS time.

  • std_msg/string channel_id

    • The name of the sample channel collected (can be "Pac", "Pdc", "Tac", "Tdc", or En where n represents the electrode number, see the BioTac wiki page for additional details)

  • int16[] Biotac_Data

    • Contains an array of integers of BioTac measurements. The length of the array is equal to the number of BioTacs supported by the hardware. Values range from 0 to 4095 for connected BioTacs; -1 is passed for BioTacs that are not connected or the data is corrupted during transmission (i.e. has bad parity).

Installation Instructions

 UPDATE WHEN COMPLETE

Contributing

If you are interested in contributing to the development of this stack or would like to add or help us add new function to a package please contact us at ros@syntouchllc.com

Support

If you encounter a problem or need support please contact us at ros@syntouchllc.com