Bioloid Control: Project Page

Configuration

This section explains how the main program and robot models can be configured.

General Configuration

The main program reads the configuration settings from a xml file, see global.cpp. During operation most of the parameters below can be changed via console commands.

Example Configuration File:

<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<Configuration>
	<General>
		<SaveOnExit>false</SaveOnExit>
	</General>
	<Hardware>
		<WriteToRobot>true</WriteToRobot>
		<Ax12>
			<CWMargin id="1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10" >1</CWMargin>
			<CCWMargin id="1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10" >1</CCWMargin>
			<CWSlope id="1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10" >32</CWSlope>
			<CCWSlope id="1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10" >32</CCWSlope>
			<Punch id="1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10" >32</Punch>
			<Status id="1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10" >4</Status>
			<Speed id="1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10" >100</Speed>
			<Torque id="1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10" >1023</Torque>
		</Ax12>
		<AxS1>
		</AxS1>
		<ControlTorque>true</ControlTorque>
		<ControlSpeed>false</ControlSpeed>
		<Controller>
			<Torque id="1 2 3 4 5" time="1" p="10" i="0.5" d="0" offset="100" />
			<Speed id="1 2 3 4 5" time="1" p="10" i="0.3" d="0" offset="30" />
		</Controller>
	</Hardware>
	<Software>
		<ComPort>/dev/ttyUSB0</ComPort>
		<ComSpeed>115200</ComSpeed>
		<ComEnabled>true</ComEnabled>
		<TcpEnabled>false</TcpEnabled>
		<TcpPortIn>22615</TcpPortIn>
		<TcpPortOut>22614</TcpPortOut> 
		<TcpHostname>localhost</TcpHostname> 
		<UseCM5>true</UseCM5> 
		<StopOnCollisionRead>true</StopOnCollisionRead>
		<StopOnCollisionWrite>true</StopOnCollisionWrite>
		<AddMotionsWithCollision>false</addMotionsWithCollision>
		<Debug>true</Debug>
		<RobotConfigFile>dh_hexapod.xml</RobotConfigFile>
		<RobotIsPresent>true</RobotIsPresent>
		<WriteToRobot>false</WriteToRobot>
		<ReadFromRobot>true</ReadFromRobot>
	</Software>
</Configuration>

Explanation

General.SaveOnExit:
Store changes made during program execution.
Hardware.WriteToRobot:
Write Hardware settings to robot.
Hardware.Ax12.CWMargin :
Clockwise Margin (see Ax12 manual).
Hardware.Ax12.CCWMargin :
Counterclockwise Margin (see Ax12 manual).
Hardware.Ax12.CWSlope :
Clockwise Slope (see Ax12 manual).
Hardware.Ax12.CCWSlope :
Counterclockwise Slope (see Ax12 manual).
Hardware.Ax12.Punch :
Punch (see Ax12 manual).
Hardware.Ax12.Status:
Status (see Ax12 manual).
Hardware.Ax12.Speed:
Speed Limit (0 .. 1023) (see Ax12 manual).
Hardware.Ax12.Torque:
Torque Limit (0 .. 1023) (see Ax12 manual).
Hardware.ControlTorque:
Enable PID Torque Controller.
Hardware.ControlSpeed:
Enable PID Speed Controller.
Hardware.Controller.Torque:
PID Torque Controller Settings.
Hardware.Controller.Speed:
PID Speed Controller Settings.
Software.ComPort:
Serial device, f.e. /dev/ttyS0 (Linux) or COM4 (Windows).
Software.ComSpeed:
Serial baudrate, f.e. 115200.
Software.ComEnabled:
Send data through serial port, default is true.
Software.UseCM5:
Indicates that the pc is connected to the cm-5 and not directly to the dynamixel bus, default is true.
Software.TcpEnabled:
Creates a tcp server which mirrors the serial communication.
Software.TcpPortIn:
Port of the tcp server for incoming data (if this is set to the same value as Software.TcpPortOut only one tcp socket will be created).
Software.TcpPortOut:
Port of the tcp server for outgoing data (if this is set to the same value as Software.TcpPortIn only one tcp socket will be created).
Software.TcpHostname:
Hostname of the tcp server to communicate with.
Software.StopOnCollisionRead:
Stop robot motion if a collision has been detected (based on current robot pose).
Software.StopOnCollisionWrite:
Stop robot motion if a collision has been detected (based on target robot pose).
Software.AddMotionsWithCollision:
Add motions for execution even if a collision has been detected while motion planning.
Software.Debug:
Show debug messages.
Software.RobotConfigFile:
Robot configuration file, see next section.
Software.RobotIsPresent:
Robot is connected to serial port.
Software.WriteToRobot:
Write data to robot (false = simulation mode).
Software.ReadFromRobot:
Read data from robot.

Robot Configuration

In order to use the program with a custom-built robot you have to create a geometric model, a kinematic model and add inverse kinematics. The geometric and kinematic model are configured in a xml-file (see dh_humanoid.xml or dh_carausiusmorosus.xml for a complete example).

Example Robot Configuration File:

<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<Robot>
	<Name>OWNROBOT</Name>
	<Frames>
		<Frame name="l1base" base="" a="0" b="180" g="180" x="0" y="0" z="0" />
	</Frames>
	<KinematicChains len="1">
		<Chain name= "l1" base="l1base" len="3">
			<Dh rotz="0" transz="0" rotx="90" transx="25" id="10" sgn="1" />
			<Dh rotz="0" transz="0" rotx="0" transx="90" id="12" sgn="1" />
			<Dh rotz="0" transz="0" rotx="0" transx="90" id="6" sgn="1" />
		</Chain>
	</KinematicChains>
	<Geometry>
                <Box name="1" width="40" depth="50" height="40" x="0" y="25" z="10" mass="0">
                        <Frame base="l1:1" a="0" b="0" g="0" x="0" y="0" z="0" />
                        <Color r="0.1" g="0.1" b="0.1" />
                </Box>
                <Box name="2" width="40" depth="50" height="40" x="0" y="25" z="10" mass="0">
                        <Frame base="l1:3" a="0" b="0" g="0" x="0" y="0" z="0" />
                        <Color r="0.1" g="0.1" b="0.1" />
                </Box>
	</Geometry>
	<Collisions>
		<Collision first="1" second="2" />
	</Collisions>
</Robot>

Explanation

Name:
Unique robot name, needed to identify the correct inverse kinematics to use.
Frames:
Coordinate Frame, name = unique name, base = name of base frame, xyz = cartesian position, abg = Euler Angles (Roll-Pitch-Yaw)
Chain:
Contains the Denavit Hartenberg of one kinematic chain, f.e. one leg of a hexapod.
Dh:
Denavit Hartenberg parameters: rotz = Rotation around z-axis, transz = Translation along z-axis, rotx = Rotation around x'-axis, transx = Translation along x'-axis, id = Id of Ax12-servo assigned to joint, sgn = direction of rotation (+/- 1)
Box:
Creates a box centered on frame with the specified dimension and color (all boxes make up the geometric model and will be visualised by the viewer)
Collision:
Check collisions between Boxes named first and second.

Inverse Kinematics

First, you have to add your robot to the robotlist. Edit the file main/include/robot.h and add the name of your robot (see explanation) to the ROBOT_TYPES enum. Next edit the file main/src/robot.cpp and add the name of your robot to the robotNames vector (at the correct position). Second, the implementation of the inverse kinematics has to be placed in main/src/robot.cpp in CRobot::calcInverseKinematics().