RoboPuppet: Arduino I/O and Safety Filtering Software

7/5/2014

Authors: Kris Hauser, Anna Eilering

This package contains everything you need to control the Staubli TX90L either in simulation or through the trajClient3 interface on the physical robots.

DEPENDENCIES:

• Python 2.7
• Klampt (http://klampt.org) Python API
• CMake

BUILDING

• This assumes that the RoboPuppet directory is in the same parent directory as Klampt. If not, edit the KLAMPT_ROOT variable in CMakeLists.txt to point to the Klamp't directory.
• Run 'cmake .'
• Run 'make' to build the SafeSerialClient and Val3SerialClient programs

CONCEPTS:

The key concepts of the method are shown in the diagram below. Each element in square brackets [ ] is a processor, and each element in curved brackets ( ) is a datatype.

ARDUINO READING AND FILTERING: [ Arduino reader ] -> (Raw signals) -> [ Filter ] -> (Filtered signals)

LEARNING CALIBRATION: (Calibration configurations) | v (Filtered signals) -> [Visual calibrator] -> (Calibration map)

APPLYING CALIBRATION: (Filtered signals) -> [Calibration] -> (Joint angle objective)

PYTHON-KLAMPT RELAY: (Joint angle objective) -> [Serial sender] -> (JSON objective message) -> [Serial receiver] -> (Joint angle objective)

DYNAMICS AND COLLISION FILTERING (Joint angle objective) -> [Motion planner] -> (Motion commands) -> [Robot]

TO LEARN A CALIBRATION:

• Connect the Arduino, and edit the defaultPort member in settings.py to reflect the port to which it is attached to.
• Run "python calibrate.py". This will save a file arduinoCalibrate.txt which will be used by the other programs.
• To test your calibration in simulation, run "python arduinoSimControl.py"

TO RUN SYNTHETIC INPUT ON A SIMULATED ROBOT

• Run "python syntheticSerialRelay.py"
• Run "./SafeSerialClient data/tx90room.xml"

TO RUN REAL INPUT ON A SIMULATED ROBOT

• Connect the Arduino, and note which port it is attached to.
• Run "python arduinoSerialRelay.py -port=/dev/tty[PORT NUMBER]"
• Run "./SafeSerialClient data/tx90room.xml"

TO RUN REAL INPUT ON THE REAL ROBOT

• Connect the Arduino, and note which port it is attached to.
• Run "python arduinoSerialRelay.py -port=/dev/tty[PORT NUMBER]"
• Run "./Val3SerialClient data/tx90room.xml Val3/tx90l_specs.xml Val3/tx90right_medspeed.xml"

TO ADAPT THIS TO A NEW ROBOT

• You will need to define your own calibration configurations, as well as the map from RoboPuppet inputs to Klamp't configurations. You will need to edit settings.py to do so.
  • Calibration configurations are in tx90/calibrate.configs. Saving configurations can be done in RobotPose for your new robot.
  • The re-indexing from RoboPuppet inputs to Klamp't configurations is done in the arduinoToKlampt() function in settings.py. You'll need to edit this function.
• You will also need to set up your own world file. See the Klamp't documentation for more details.