Overview

Welcome to the interbotix_ros_toolboxes repository! This repo contains support level ROS wrappers and robot interface modules that are used in many of our robotic platforms at Trossen Robotics.

Links to other repositories that use this repo include:

• interbotix_ros_turrets
• interbotix_ros_rovers
• interbotix_ros_crawlers
• interbotix_ros_manipulators

CI Status

ROS Distro	X-Series ROS Toolboxes Build
ROS 1 Noetic
ROS 2 Galactic
ROS 2 Humble
ROS 2 Rolling

Repo Structure

GitHub Landing Page: Explains repository structure and contains a single directory for each type of toolbox.
├── Toolbox Type X Landing Page: Contains support-level ROS packages for a given actuator/hardware platform.
│   ├── Support-Level Toolbox ROS Package 1
│   ├── Support-Level Toolbox ROS Package 2
│   └── Support-Level Toolbox ROS Package 3
│       ├── Robot Module Type 1
│       ├── Robot Module Type 2
│       └── Robot Module Type X
├── Support-Level Required Third Party Packages
│   ├── Third Party Package 1
│   ├── Third Party Package 2
│   └── Third Party Package X
├── LICENSE
└── README.md

As shown above, there are four main levels and two types of packages in this repository. To clarify some of the terms above, refer to the descriptions below.

• Toolbox Type - Toolboxes are broken up into types based on hardware or application. For example, one toolbox exists for Dynamixel-based robot platforms. Similarly, another toolbox exists for the Raspberry Pi platform. The Common toolbox on the other hand can be used for any application, regardless of hardware type. Future toolboxes could be based on other types of actuators or other computer platforms (like the Nvidia Jetson).

• Support-Level Toolbox ROS Package - This refers to a ROS package that is used for more than one Robot Type (like for manipulators and rovers). By putting the package here, there's only instance of the code instead of duplicates in multiple repositories. Some examples include the interbotix_xs_ros_control and interbotix_moveit_interface ROS packages as they are used both in the interbotix_ros_manipulators and interbotix_ros_rovers repositories.

• Robot Module - This refers to an interface module found in the interbotix_XXXXX_modules ROS package that builds on top of ROS using a more novice-friendly language like Python or MATLAB. Instead of writing a script using the various ROS libraries, one can simply import a module in whatever language they feel comfortable with and begin writing high-level programs. These modules are here because they can also be used for more than one robot type. For example, the arm.py module in the interbotix_xs_modules ROS package can be used both in X-Series LoCoBots found in the interbotix_ros_rovers repository and in the X-Series Arms found in the interbotix_ros_manipulators repository.

• Support-Level Required Third Party Packages - These packages are made by external organizations that the Support-Level Toolbox Packages require to run. Only packages that are not available on package indices like PyPI are stored here to reduce the git repository size. These packages will be managed using the git submodule feature. For example, the ModernRobotics Python library is available on PyPI, but the MATLAB library is not and is included here.

Contributing

Feel free to send PRs to add features to currently existing Toolbox ROS packages or to include new ones (like modules). Note that all PRs should follow the structure and naming conventions outlined in the repo including documentation.

Contributors

• Solomon Wiznitzer - ROS Engineer
• Luke Schmitt - Robotics Software Engineer