TUM MIRMI — Panda-Base Digital Twin — ROS Noetic / Gazebo Package

1. Overview

panda_base_sim is a ROS Noetic package that launches a Gazebo 11 simulation and RViz visualization for a Franka Emika Panda mounted on a custom aluminium-profile base (including a force-torque sensor placeholder in the model).

The focus of this repository is the ROS package itself: robot description, launch system, controller configuration, and an RViz-based interactive tele-operation workflow—so that most integration work can be iterated in simulation before touching hardware.

2. What the Package Provides

• Gazebo + RViz “one-command” bring-up via panda_base_sim.launch.
• Modular URDF/Xacro robot description:
  • base_panda.urdf.xacro as the main entry point (base + Panda arm + optional hand).
  • base_sensor_urdf.urdf as a lightweight, base-only model for fast checks.
• ros_control + Franka Gazebo integration (FrankaHWSim) with controller configs pre-wired.
• Interactive marker tele-operation (auto-enabled for the Cartesian impedance example controller) to move an equilibrium pose in RViz and stream it to the controller topic.

3. Repository Structure (Key Folders)

panda_base_sim/
├── config/      # Franka HW sim + controller YAMLs
├── launch/      # Gazebo/RViz launch files
├── robots/      # xacro macros + RViz config
├── meshes/      # STL/DAE visuals (CAD exports)
├── scripts/     # interactive_marker.py
└── urdf/        # base_panda.urdf.xacro + base_sensor_urdf.urdf

4. Launch Files and Runtime Flow

4.1 panda_base_sim.launch (full stack)

This is the main entry point. It:

1. Starts Gazebo (GUI or headless; optionally paused).
2. Generates robot_description from urdf/base_panda.urdf.xacro.
3. Loads YAML parameters from config/ (hardware sim + controllers).
4. Spawns the robot into Gazebo via gazebo_ros/spawn_model.

5. Spawns controllers via controller_manager/spawner:

   • franka_state_controller
   • one selected example controller (default: cartesian_impedance_example_controller)
   • optionally franka_gripper
6. Starts robot_state_publisher / joint_state_publisher.
7. Optionally launches RViz with robots/panda_base_sim.rviz.
8. Enables the interactive marker node automatically when the Cartesian impedance controller is selected.

Useful arguments exposed by the launch file include:

• headless, paused, world, rviz
• use_gripper, controller
• spawn pose args (spawn_x/y/z, spawn_roll/pitch/yaw)

4.2 onlybase_gazebo.launch (fast base-only checks)

This launch file is intentionally minimal for quick iteration on the mechanical model:

• Launches an empty Gazebo world
• Spawns urdf/base_sensor_urdf.urdf (base + sensor placeholder, no arm)
• Publishes a static TF base_link → base_footprint
• Publishes /calibrated as true (to satisfy nodes that expect calibration gating)

5. Controllers and Interactive Marker Tele-Op

Controller definitions and Franka simulation parameters live in config/ (e.g., hardware sim config, state controller, trajectory controllers, and example controllers).

When using cartesian_impedance_example_controller, the package can run scripts/interactive_marker.py:

• Reads the current end-effector pose
• Lets you drag a 6-DoF marker in RViz
• Publishes the target to the controller topic (equilibrium pose), with workspace bounding for safer interaction

6. Workflow & Usage

1. Clone & build (catkin / Noetic)

   cd ~/catkin_ws/src
   git clone https://github.com/yunusdanabas/panda_base_sim.git
   cd ~/catkin_ws
   rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src -r -y
   catkin_make
   source devel/setup.bash
   

2. Run the full digital twin

   roslaunch panda_base_sim panda_base_sim.launch
   

   Common toggles:

   roslaunch panda_base_sim panda_base_sim.launch headless:=true rviz:=false
   roslaunch panda_base_sim panda_base_sim.launch use_gripper:=false
   roslaunch panda_base_sim panda_base_sim.launch controller:=joint_position_example_controller
   

3. Spawn only the base model

   roslaunch panda_base_sim onlybase_gazebo.launch
   

7. Visual Gallery

8. Resources

• GitHub Repository
• Forschungspraxis Report (PDF)