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Installing the ABB ROS Server

This tutorial has two parts: installing server code and configuring the controller with the appropriate tasks.

Prerequisites

The ABB ROS Server code is written in RAPID, using a socket interface and multiple parallel tasks. The code was originally tested on an IRC-5 controller, with an IRB-2400 robot, but other combinations should also work. The following controller options are required:

• Multitasking (623-1) -- for parallel socket communications

• Socket Messaging (672-1) -- for communications with a ROS PC

  • for recent RobotWare versions, this option is included with "PC Interface (616-1)"

• RobotWare OS >= 5.13 -- for required socket options

  • earlier versions may work, but will require modifications to the RAPID code

Installing Server Code

All files in the abb_common/rapid directory should be copied to the robot controller. This tutorial assumes the files are copied to a "ROS" subdirectory under the system's HOME directory (e.g. /<system>/HOME/ROS/*).

See the manufacturer's documentation for file-transfer methods. RobotStudio Online and USB drives are often convenient methods to transfer files to the controller.

Configuring Controller Settings

The ROS Server code requires 3 tasks. Some modules are loaded to specific tasks, and others are shared between tasks, as described below:

File Overview

• Shared by all tasks
  • ROS_common.sys -- Global variables and data types shared by all files

  • ROS_socket.sys -- Socket handling and simple_message implementation

  • ROS_messages.sys -- Implementation of specific message types
• Specific task modules
  • ROS_stateServer.mod -- Broadcast joint position and state data
  • ROS_motionServer.mod -- Receive robot motion commands
  • ROS_motion.mod -- Issues motion commands to the robot

Create Tasks

1. Browse to ABB -> Control Panel -> Configuration -> Topics -> Controller -> Task

2. Create 3 tasks as follows:

   Name	Type	Trust Level	Entry	Motion Task
   ROS_StateServer	SEMISTATIC	NoSafety	main	NO
   ROS_MotionServer	SEMISTATIC	SysStop	main	NO
   T_ROB1	NORMAL		main	YES

   It is easiest to wait until all configuration tasks are completed before rebooting the controller.

   NOTES:

   1. The T_ROB1 motion task probably already exists on your controller.

   2. If T_ROB1 has existing motion-control modules, you may need to rename the main() routine in ROS_Motion.mod to ROS_main(). In this case, set the Entry point for T_ROB1 task to ROS_main().

   3. For multi-robot controllers, specify the desired robot (e.g. rob1) for each task

   4. SEMISTATIC tasks will auto-start when controller is booted. They are visible, but cannot be easily seen for troubleshooting. For debug or development purposes, it may be desired to set both ROS_*Server tasks to Type=NORMAL.

Load Modules to Tasks

1. Browse to ABB -> Control Panel -> Configuration -> Topics -> Controller -> Automatic Loading of Modules

2. Add one entry for each server file as follows:

   File	Task	Installed	All Tasks	Hidden
   HOME:/ROS/ROS_common.sys		NO	YES	NO
   HOME:/ROS/ROS_socket.sys		NO	YES	NO
   HOME:/ROS/ROS_messages.sys		NO	YES	NO
   HOME:/ROS/ROS_stateServer.mod	ROS_StateServer	NO	NO	NO
   HOME:/ROS/ROS_motionServer.mod	ROS_MotionServer	NO	NO	NO
   HOME:/ROS/ROS_motion.mod	T_ROB1	NO	NO	NO

3. After the last change, select YES to restart the controller and apply the changes.

Updating Software

To update robot-server files with new code versions, use the following procedure to ensure that the changes are actually applied:

1. Copy the new/updated files onto the robot controller, as before.

2. Restart the controller using a P-Start

   • ABB -> Restart -> Advanced -> P-Start -> OK

   • NOTE: This will erase any existing modules that have been loaded to memory. This may cause compilation issues on restart. If this is a concern, try another method: Warm Start, manually reloading modules (may require setting SEMISTATIC tasks to NORMAL tasks), etc.

3. After the controller reboots, the new changes should be active.