ROS-Industrial universal_robot meta-package. See the ROS wiki page for compatibility information and other more information.

This repository provides ROS support for the universal robots. This repo holds source code for all versions > groovy. For those versions <= groovy see: hg https://kforge.ros.org/ros_industrial/universal_robot

Installation from Source
There are releases available for ROS Hydro and ROS Indigo. However, for the latest features and developments you might want to install from source.

First set up a catkin workspace (see this tutorials).
Then clone the repository into the src/ folder. It should look like /path/to/your/catkin_workspace/src/universal_robot.
Make sure to source the correct setup file according to your workspace hierarchy, then use catkin_make to compile.

Usage with real Hardware
There are launch files available to bringup a real robot - either UR5 or UR10.
In the following the commands for the UR5 are given. For the UR10, simply replace the prefix accordingly.

Don't forget to source the correct setup shell files and use a new terminal for each command!

To bring up the real robot, run:

roslaunch ur_bringup ur5_bringup.launch robot_ip:=IP_OF_THE_ROBOT [reverse_port:=REVERSE_PORT]

A simple test script that moves the robot to predefined positions can be executed like this:

rosrun ur_driver test_move.py

CAUTION:
Remember that you should always have your hands on the big red button in case there is something in the way or anything unexpected happens.

MoveIt! with real Hardware
Additionally, you can use MoveIt! to control the robot.
There exist MoveIt! configuration packages for both robots.

For setting up the MoveIt! nodes to allow motion planning run:

roslaunch ur5_moveit_config ur5_moveit_planning_execution.launch

For starting up RViz with a configuration including the MoveIt! Motion Planning plugin run:

roslaunch ur5_moveit_config moveit_rviz.launch config:=true

NOTE:
As MoveIt! seems to have difficulties with finding plans for the UR with full joint limits [-2pi, 2pi], there is a joint_limited version using joint limits restricted to [-pi,pi]. In order to use this joint limited version, simply use the launch file arguments 'limited', i.e.:

roslaunch ur_bringup ur5_bringup.launch limited:=true robot_ip:=IP_OF_THE_ROBOT [reverse_port:=REVERSE_PORT]

roslaunch ur5_moveit_config ur5_moveit_planning_execution.launch limited:=true

roslaunch ur5_moveit_config moveit_rviz.launch config:=true

Usage with Gazebo Simulation
There are launch files available to bringup a simulated robot - either UR5 or UR10.
In the following the commands for the UR5 are given. For the UR10, simply replace the prefix accordingly.

Don't forget to source the correct setup shell files and use a new terminal for each command!

To bring up the simulated robot in Gazebo, run:

roslaunch ur_gazebo ur5.launch

MoveIt! with a simulated robot
Again, you can use MoveIt! to control the simulated robot.

For setting up the MoveIt! nodes to allow motion planning run:

roslaunch ur5_moveit_config ur5_moveit_planning_execution.launch sim:=true

For starting up RViz with a configuration including the MoveIt! Motion Planning plugin run:

roslaunch ur5_moveit_config moveit_rviz.launch config:=true

NOTE:
As MoveIt! seems to have difficulties with finding plans for the UR with full joint limits [-2pi, 2pi], there is a joint_limited version using joint limits restricted to [-pi,pi]. In order to use this joint limited version, simply use the launch file arguments 'limited', i.e.:

roslaunch ur_gazebo ur5.launch limited:=true

roslaunch ur5_moveit_config ur5_moveit_planning_execution.launch sim:=true limited:=true

roslaunch ur5_moveit_config moveit_rviz.launch config:=true