franka_gazebo_bringup

Important

Minimum necessary franka_description version is 0.3.0. You can clone franka_description package from https://github.com/frankarobotics/franka_description.

A project integrating Franka ROS 2 with the Gazebo simulator.

Launch RVIZ + Gazebo

Launch an example which spawns RVIZ and Gazebo showing the robot:

ros2 launch franka_gazebo_bringup visualize_franka_robot.launch.py

If you want to display another robot, you can define the robot_type:

ros2 launch franka_gazebo_bringup visualize_franka_robot.launch.py robot_type:=fp3

If you want to start the simulation including the franka_hand:

ros2 launch franka_gazebo_bringup visualize_franka_robot.launch.py load_gripper:=true franka_hand:='franka_hand'

Joint Velocity Control Example with Gazebo

Before starting, be sure to build franka_example_controllers and franka_description packages. franka_description must have the minimum version of 0.3.0.

colcon build --packages-select franka_example_controllers

Now you can launch the velocity example with Gazebo simulator.

ros2 launch franka_gazebo_bringup gazebo_franka_arm_example_controller.launch.py load_gripper:=true franka_hand:='franka_hand' controller:='joint_velocity_example_controller'

Keep in mind that the gripper joint has a bug with the joint velocity controller. If you are interested in controlling the gripper please use joint position interface.

Joint Position Control Example with Gazebo

To run the joint position control example you need to have the required software listed in the joint velocity control section.

Then you can run with the following command.

ros2 launch franka_gazebo_bringup gazebo_franka_arm_example_controller.launch.py load_gripper:=true franka_hand:='franka_hand' controller:='joint_position_example_controller'

Joint Impedance Control Example with Gazebo

For running torque example:

ros2 launch franka_gazebo_bringup gazebo_franka_arm_example_controller.launch.py load_gripper:=true franka_hand:='franka_hand' controller:='joint_impedance_example_controller'

Mobile Robot Example with Gazebo

Launch the TMR mobile base in Gazebo:

ros2 launch franka_gazebo_bringup gazebo_mobile_robot.launch.py

With sensors enabled:

ros2 launch franka_gazebo_bringup gazebo_mobile_robot.launch.py with_sensors:=true

Gravity Compensation in Simulation

Gravity is enabled globally in the Gazebo world, just like on the real robot. To keep the arms from collapsing under their own weight, franka_gazebo_bringup loads a gravity-compensation system plugin (provided by franka_gazebo_hardware) that computes the model-based gravity torque and applies it to the effort-controlled arm joints. This mirrors the real robot, where the master controller performs gravity compensation, so the zero-torque example controllers (for example the joint impedance controller) behave the same way in simulation as on hardware.

You normally don’t need to configure any of this — it is wired up by the example launch files. Gravity being enabled is engine-independent and does not depend on a particular physics engine forwarding a gravity-disable flag.

Troubleshooting

If you experience that Gazebo can’t find your model files, try to include the workspace. E.g.

export GZ_SIM_RESOURCE_PATH=${GZ_SIM_RESOURCE_PATH}:/workspaces/src/