franka_gazebo

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_joint_velocity_controller_example.launch.py load_gripper:=true franka_hand:='franka_hand'

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_joint_position_controller_example.launch.py load_gripper:=true franka_hand:='franka_hand'

Joint Impedance Control Example with Gazebo

For running torque example. You must compile the franka_ign_ros2_control package located under franka_gazebo_bringup. You can compile franka_ign_ros2_control with the following command.

colcon build --packages-select franka_ign_ros2_control

Then source your workspace.

source install/setup.sh

Then you can run the impedance control example.

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

Mobile FR3 Duo Example with Gazebo

Before starting, be sure to build franka_example_controllers, franka_gazebo_bringup, gz_ros2_control and franka_description packages.

colcon build --packages-select franka_example_controllers franka_gazebo_bringup franka_description gz_ros2_control
source install/setup.bash

Now you can launch the mobile FR3 duo example with Gazebo:

ros2 launch franka_gazebo_bringup gazebo_mobile_fr3_duo_example.launch.py

To launch with the full sensor suite (4x cameras, 2x LiDARs, 1x IMU), also build franka_mobile_sensors:

colcon build --packages-select franka_mobile_sensors
source install/setup.bash
ros2 launch franka_gazebo_bringup gazebo_mobile_fr3_duo_example.launch.py with_sensors:=true

Arguments:

with_sensors: If set to true, uses the sensor-enhanced description (franka_mobile_sensors) with Gazebo sensor plugins. Defaults to false.
world: SDF world filename inside franka_gazebo_bringup/worlds/ to load. Overrides the default world selection.

This will spawn the mobile base and two FR3 arms, and start the joint impedance controller for both arms and cartesian velocity control for the mobile base. RViz will also launch for visualization. Select base_link to see the robot there.

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/