MATLAB URDF Builder

A MATLAB toolkit for programmatically creating, modifying, and managing URDF (Unified Robot Description Format) files. This library provides an object-oriented interface for robot model construction and manipulation.

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Project Structure
• Getting Started
  • Prerequisites
  • Installation
  • Usage
• Contributing
• License

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Overview

• Complete URDF Element Support

  • Links and Joints (Continuous, Fixed, Floating, Planar, Prismatic, Revolute)
  • Visual and Geometric Components (Box, Cylinder, Sphere, Mesh)
  • Origins and Transformations
  • Materials and Properties
  • Reusable Component assemblies

• Object-Oriented Design

  • Clean class hierarchy with URDFTag as base class
  • Modular component structure
  • Extensible architecture

• Comprehensive Joint Types

  • Continuous joints for unlimited rotation
  • Fixed joints for rigid connections
  • Floating joints for unconstrained motion
  • Planar joints for 2D movement
  • Prismatic joints for linear motion
  • Revolute joints with configurable limits

• Comprehensive Geometry Support

  • Basic shapes (Box, Cylinder, Sphere)
  • Mesh import capabilities
  • Visual component management
  • Origin and transformation handling

• Reusable Component Assembly Support

  • Create reusable component assemblies with links and joints
  • Define and attach parameters to component assemblies
  • Create unique component instances with their own set of parameter values

• XML Processing

  • Read existing URDF files
  • Write URDF files
  • Compare URDF structures
  • Validate URDF syntax

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Project Structure

└── robotBuilder_matlab/
    ├── +urdf
    │   ├── +joints
    │   │   ├── Continuous.m
    │   │   ├── Fixed.m
    │   │   ├── Floating.m
    │   │   ├── Planar.m
    │   │   ├── Prismatic.m
    │   │   └── Revolute.m
    │   ├── +shapes
    │   │   ├── Box.m
    │   │   ├── Cylinder.m
    │   │   ├── Mesh.m
    │   │   └── Sphere.m
    │   ├── +util
    │   │   ├── isNullTag.m
    │   │   ├── findNodeFromRobotRoot.m
    │   │   ├── compareURDF.m
    │   │   ├── readXML.m
    │   │   └── writeToURDFFile.m
    │   ├── Axis.m
    │   ├── Builder.m
    │   ├── Component.m
    │   ├── Geometry.m
    │   ├── Inertial.m
    │   ├── Joint.m
    │   ├── Link.m
    │   ├── Material.m
    │   ├── Origin.m
    │   ├── Robot.m
    │   ├── URDFTag.m
    │   └── Visual.m
    ├── LICENSE
    └── minion.mlx

Key Classes

• Robot: Main container class for the URDF model
• Component: Reusable component class for component assemblies
• Link: Represents physical elements of the robot
• Joint: Base class for all joint types
• URDFTag: Base class providing XML functionality
• Geometry: Handles visual representation
• Origin: Manages spatial transformations

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Getting Started

Prerequisites

Before getting started with robotBuilder_matlab, ensure your runtime environment meets the following requirements:

• Programming Language: MATLAB
• Tools: MATLAB (Version R2023b and Above)

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/artineering/robotBuilder_matlab.git

2. Add the project directory to your MATLAB path:

addpath('/path/to/robotBuilder_matlab');

Usage

Creating a Simple Robot

% Initialize a new robot
robot = urdf.Robot('my_robot');

% Add a base link
base_link = urdf.Link('base_link');
robot.addLink(base_link);

% Add a joint
joint = urdf.joints.Revolute('joint1', 'base_link', 'link1', -pi/2, pi/2, 100, 1);
robot.addJoint(joint);

% Write to file
urdf.util.writeToURDFFile(robot, 'my_robot.urdf');

Loading Existing URDF

% Read from file
robot_node = urdf.util.readXML('existing_robot.urdf');
robot = urdf.Robot.buildFromURDF(robot_node);

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Contributing

• 💬 Join the Discussions: Share your insights, provide feedback, or ask questions.
• 🐛 Report Issues: Submit bugs found or log feature requests for the robotBuilder_matlab project.
• 💡 Submit Pull Requests: Review open PRs, and submit your own PRs.

Contributing Guidelines

1. Fork the Repository: Start by forking the project repository to your github account.
2. Clone Locally: Clone the forked repository to your local machine using a git client.

   git clone https://github.com/artineering/robotBuilder_matlab

3. Create a New Branch: Always work on a new branch, giving it a descriptive name.

   git checkout -b new-feature-x

4. Make Your Changes: Develop and test your changes locally.
5. Commit Your Changes: Commit with a clear message describing your updates.

   git commit -m 'Implemented new feature x.'

6. Push to github: Push the changes to your forked repository.

   git push origin new-feature-x

7. Submit a Pull Request: Create a PR against the original project repository. Clearly describe the changes and their motivations.
8. Review: Once your PR is reviewed and approved, it will be merged into the main branch. Congratulations on your contribution!

Contributor Graph

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License

This project is licensed under the Apache 2.0 License - see the LICENSE file for details.

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Citing

If you use this software in your research, please cite:

@software{robotbuilder_matlab,
  title={MATLAB URDF Builder},
  author={Siddharth Vaghela},
  year={2024},
  url={https://github.com/artineering/robotBuilder_matlab}
}