README.md

Arm Controller

This package contains launch files and controller configuration for bringing up the Exodus2025 robotic arm.

Usage

Launch with Fake Hardware (for testing without real motors)

ros2 launch arm_controller arm.launch.py use_fake_hardware:=true

This is useful for:

• Testing controllers without physical hardware
• Visualizing the robot in RViz
• Developing motion planning algorithms
• Testing your software stack

Launch with Real Hardware (CubeMars motors via CAN)

First, make sure your CAN interface is up:

sudo ip link set can0 type can bitrate 1000000
sudo ip link set can0 up

Then launch with real hardware:

ros2 launch arm_controller arm.launch.py use_fake_hardware:=false can_interface:=can0

Launch Options

• use_fake_hardware: Use fake hardware interface (default: false)
• can_interface: CAN interface name (default: slcan0) - only used with real hardware
• use_rviz: Launch RViz for visualization (default: true)
• controllers_file: YAML file with controllers configuration (default: controllers.yaml)

Examples

Test with fake hardware and no RViz:

ros2 launch arm_controller arm.launch.py use_fake_hardware:=true use_rviz:=false

Use real hardware with slcan0 interface:

ros2 launch arm_controller arm.launch.py use_fake_hardware:=false can_interface:=slcan0

Use the old test launch file (deprecated, kept for reference):

ros2 launch arm_controller cubemars_test.launch.py

Controllers

The default controller configuration includes:

• joint_state_broadcaster: Publishes joint states to /joint_states topic
• forward_position_controller: Accepts position commands for all joints

Testing Commands

Send a position command to all joints:

ros2 topic pub /forward_position_controller/commands std_msgs/msg/Float64MultiArray "data: [0.0, 0.5, -0.5, 0.0, 0.0]"

Monitor joint states:

ros2 topic echo /joint_states

List available controllers:

ros2 control list_controllers

List hardware interfaces:

ros2 control list_hardware_interfaces