Bartender Robot

Overview

Nodes

• API Server: Provides HTTP API for robot status and control
• Dynamixel Controller: Controls Dynamixel motors based on received commands
• Keyboard Teleop: Simple keyboard teleoperation for testing
• Plan Player: Loads and executes robot trajectories from CSV files
• Joint State Publisher: Converts joint positions to joint states for RViz visualization
• Robot State Publisher: Publishes robot state to TF (for simulation)
• RViz: Visualization tool

Getting started

0. Install System dependencies (see below)

1. Build the workspace

   # Source ROS 2 installation(adjust for your ROS 2 distribution)
   $ source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash
   
   $ cd bartender_robot
   
   # Clean previous builds
   $ rm -rf log build install
   
   $ colcon build --symlink-install

2. Source the workspace overlays

   $ source install/setup.bash

3. View the robot in RViz

   Starts the robot_state_publisher ans joint_state_publisher(optional), and opens RViz:

   $ ros2 launch bartender_robot rviz.launch.py

4. Spawn the robot in Gazebo

   $ ros2 launch bartender_robot gz_sim.launch.py

5. Use MoveIt for motion planning

   You can use MoveIt to plan and simulate robot trajectories.

   If you haven't set up the MoveIt configuration yet, run the setup assistant first:

   $ ros2 launch bartender_moveit_config setup_assistant.launch.py

   Then launch MoveIt with RViz and interactively set target poses, visualize planned paths, and execute motions.

   $ ros2 launch bartender_moveit_config demo.launch.py

   When RViz opens, use the 'MotionPlanning' panel to set target poses and click 'Plan' and 'Execute' to move the robot in simulation.

   To save the planned trajectory to a CSV file, run the following script and push the plan button in RViz:

   $ python bartender_moveit_config/launch/save_plan.py

   To merge the saved trajectory CSV files into a single file, use:

   $ python bartender_moveit_config/launch/trajectory_generator.py

6. Control real Dynamixel motors

   Important: Before running, make sure to:

   • Connect Dynamixel motors via USB (e.g., U2D2)
   • Set correct device name in launch file (default: /dev/ttyUSB0)
   • Configure correct Dynamixel IDs in launch file
   • Give permission to the USB port: sudo chmod 666 /dev/ttyUSB0

   # Basic usage with Dynamixel
   $ ros2 run bartender_robot bartender_robot --ros-args \
     -p use_dynamixel:=true \
     -p joints:="['XL_430_base_Revolute-29','XL_430_shoulder_Revolute-30','XL_430_upper_Revolute-31','XL_430_lower_Revolute-32']" \
     -p dynamixel_ids:="[1,2,3,4]"
   
   # With custom parameters
   $ ros2 run bartender_robot bartender_robot --ros-args \
     -p use_dynamixel:=true \
     -p publish_joint_states:=true \
     -p joints:="['XL_430_base_Revolute-29','XL_430_shoulder_Revolute-30','XL_430_upper_Revolute-31','XL_430_lower_Revolute-32']" \
     -p dynamixel_ids:="[1,2,3,4]" \
     -p baud_rate:=57600 \
     -p step:=0.5

7. Execute trajectory from CSV file via HTTP API

   Start the robot node with joint state publishing enabled:

   $ ros2 run bartender_robot bartender_robot --ros-args \
     -p publish_joint_states:=true

   In another terminal, send HTTP request to execute a trajectory:

   # Execute with default CSV path
   $ curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/play_plan \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{}'
   
   # Execute with custom CSV path
   $ curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/play_plan \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"csv_path": "/path/to/your/trajectory.csv"}'

   Default CSV path: /home/kevin/bartender_robot/captured_plan_20251127_001513.csv

Available Parameters

The bartender_robot node accepts the following ROS 2 parameters:

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
use_dynamixel	bool	false	Enable/disable Dynamixel motor control
publish_joint_states	bool	true	Enable/disable joint states publishing for RViz visualization
joints	string[]	[]	List of joint names to control
dynamixel_ids	int[]	[]	List of Dynamixel motor IDs corresponding to joints
baud_rate	int	57600	Baud rate for Dynamixel communication
step	double	0.05	Step size for keyboard teleoperation
controller_name	string	"joint_trajectory_controller"	Name of the trajectory controller

Example Configurations

# Simulation mode with joint states (for RViz)
$ ros2 run bartender_robot bartender_robot --ros-args \
  -p publish_joint_states:=true

# Real robot mode without joint state publishing (Dynamixel handles states)
$ ros2 run bartender_robot bartender_robot --ros-args \
  -p use_dynamixel:=true \
  -p publish_joint_states:=false \
  -p joints:="['XL_430_base_Revolute-29','XL_430_shoulder_Revolute-30','XL_430_upper_Revolute-31','XL_430_lower_Revolute-32']" \
  -p dynamixel_ids:="[1,2,3,4]"

# Development mode with all features
$ ros2 run bartender_robot bartender_robot --ros-args \
  -p use_dynamixel:=false \
  -p publish_joint_states:=true \
  -p step:=0.1

System dependencies

Install ROS 2 Humble according to the official instructions:
(or your desired ROS 2 distribution) https://docs.ros.org/en/humble/Installation.html

Install the packages below if they are not already available:
(adjust for your ROS 2 distribution)

$ sudo apt update

# Install Dynamixel SDK
$ sudo apt-get install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-dynamixel-sdk

# Install sensor_msgs for joint states
$ sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-sensor-msgs

# Install basic robot state publisher and RViz
$ sudo apt install \
    ros-$ROS_DISTRO-xacro \
    ros-$ROS_DISTRO-joint-state-publisher \
    ros-$ROS_DISTRO-joint-state-publisher-gui \
    ros-$ROS_DISTRO-robot-state-publisher \
    ros-$ROS_DISTRO-rviz2

# Install Gazebo and ROS-Gazebo bridge
$ sudo apt install \
    ros-$ROS_DISTRO-ros-gz \
    ros-$ROS_DISTRO-ros-gz-sim \
    ros-$ROS_DISTRO-ros-gz-bridge \
    ros-$ROS_DISTRO-ros2-control \
    ros-$ROS_DISTRO-ros2-controllers \
    ros-$ROS_DISTRO-gz-ros2-control

# Install MoveIt 2 (optional, for motion planning)
$ sudo apt install \
    ros-$ROS_DISTRO-moveit \
    ros-$ROS_DISTRO-moveit-visual-tools \
    libeigen3-dev

Dependencies

• CMake
• nlohmann_json
• cpp-httplib

Note

USB settings for WSL2

If you are using WSL2, you may need to set up USB passthrough to access the Dynamixel motors. Instructions Link

1. Install usbipd-win on Windows: https://github.com/dorssel/usbipd-win/releases

2. Bind and attach USB device to WSL2:

   # List available USB devices
   usbipd list
   
   # Bind the desired USB device (replace '1-9' with your device's bus ID)
   usbipd bind --busid 1-9
   
   # Attach the USB device to WSL
   usbipd attach --wsl --busid 1-9

3. Verify USB device is available in WSL2:

   lsusb