Familiarize with the concept of YARP devices and other related concepts

[traversaro]

References:

• Day 1 and Day 2 of https://github.com/icub-training/icub-training.github.io/wiki/Online-Program
• Section 4 of https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frobt.2016.00024/full
• https://yarp.it/latest/group__note__devices.html
• http://wiki.icub.org/wiki/File:Icub_control_modes_slides_1_1.pdf
• http://wiki.icub.org/wiki/File:ICub_Control_Modes_1_1.pdf
• https://github.com/vvv-school/tutorial_joint-interface
• https://yarp.it/latest//group__nws__and__nwc__architecture.html

Questions to answer:

• Why some code in the iCub infrastructure is encapsulated using YARP devices that communicate over C++ interface rather than RFModule that communicate using YARP ports?

Assignment to do:

• https://github.com/vvv-school/tutorial_joint-interface

[lucapa17]

We read all the references and we better understood the concept of Yarp devices.

Assignment to do:

• https://github.com/vvv-school/tutorial_joint-interface

We also tried the tutorial. In particular to run the tutorial we had some problems that we fixed commenting the following row of setup.sh file of the superbuild: export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${LD_LIBRARY_PATH:+${LD_LIBRARY_PATH}:}${ROBOTOLOGY_SUPERBUILD_INSTALL_PREFIX}/lib.

Questions to answer:

• Why some code in the iCub infrastructure is encapsulated using YARP devices that communicate over C++ interface rather than RFModule that communicate using YARP ports?

YARP devices provide a higher level of abstraction and hide the underlying complexity, making it easier to use and maintain. They offer a unified interface for different types of hardware devices. This means that regardless of the specific hardware being used, the code interacting with the device remains the same. This abstraction allows for more flexibility in switching hardware components without modifying the higher-level code. On the other hand, in some cases, using YARP ports and RFModules may be more appropriate, especially when the focus is on message passing between modules rather than direct hardware control.