Fusion Modeling
The first and foremost step in building the robot is to build a scaled model of the bot. Fusion 360 was used to achieve this. The “to-scale” model of our very own quadruped was built in such a way that it can be printed using the 3D printer. The dimensions of various components were also taken into account while creating the model.
Some of the components that were taken into consideration were - the battery, the cameras and other sensors etc.
Gazebo and Rviz
Next step in the design and simulation process is to generate the scaled model to Gazebo and Rviz softwares.
Gazebo is a well-designed simulator, which makes it possible to rapidly test algorithms, design robots, perform regression testing, and train AI systems using realistic scenarios. Gazebo offers the ability to accurately and efficiently simulate populations of robots in complex indoor and outdoor environments. At your fingertips is a robust physics engine, high-quality graphics, and convenient programmatic and graphical interfaces.
It is also well integrated with ROS (Robot Operating System).
Rviz is a 3d visualization tool for ROS applications. It provides a view of your robot model, captures sensor information from robot sensors, and replay captured data. It can display data from cameras, lasers, from 3D and 2D devices including pictures and point clouds.
URDF and Xacro
The reason we shift to these platforms is because they are well integrated with ROS.
The process to do this is by converting the model into an URDF(Universal Robot Description Format) or Xacro format.
Every major moveable segment(femur, tibia, shoulder etc) in the fusion model was individually converted to a separate STL file and generated in Gazebo. The joint locations are specified along with the Links, collision elements etc. The limits for the joints are set according to the mobility requirements.
The model can then be put under various conditions with the help of the physics engine inbuilt in gazebo. Cameras and sensors can also be integrated with ease. Xacro files are easier to handle for these scenarios.
Fusion Modeling The first and foremost step in building the robot is to build a scaled model of the bot. Fusion 360 was used to achieve this. The “to-scale” model of our very own quadruped was built in such a way that it can be printed using the 3D printer. The dimensions of various components were also taken into account while creating the model. Some of the components that were taken into consideration were - the battery, the cameras and other sensors etc.
Gazebo and Rviz Next step in the design and simulation process is to generate the scaled model to Gazebo and Rviz softwares. Gazebo is a well-designed simulator, which makes it possible to rapidly test algorithms, design robots, perform regression testing, and train AI systems using realistic scenarios. Gazebo offers the ability to accurately and efficiently simulate populations of robots in complex indoor and outdoor environments. At your fingertips is a robust physics engine, high-quality graphics, and convenient programmatic and graphical interfaces. It is also well integrated with ROS (Robot Operating System). Rviz is a 3d visualization tool for ROS applications. It provides a view of your robot model, captures sensor information from robot sensors, and replay captured data. It can display data from cameras, lasers, from 3D and 2D devices including pictures and point clouds.
URDF and Xacro The reason we shift to these platforms is because they are well integrated with ROS. The process to do this is by converting the model into an URDF(Universal Robot Description Format) or Xacro format. Every major moveable segment(femur, tibia, shoulder etc) in the fusion model was individually converted to a separate STL file and generated in Gazebo. The joint locations are specified along with the Links, collision elements etc. The limits for the joints are set according to the mobility requirements. The model can then be put under various conditions with the help of the physics engine inbuilt in gazebo. Cameras and sensors can also be integrated with ease. Xacro files are easier to handle for these scenarios.