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Using Device in Template

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13 views

Using Device in Template

Uploaded by

Magnus Ragnvaldsson
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Using a Device in a Template

Universal Robots A/S


Version 1.14.0

Abstract
In PolyScope versions 3.11.0/5.5.1, gripper drivers were introduced. This was the first
concept of a device driver/contribution in PolyScope. With the introduction of PolyScope
version 3.12.0/5.6.0, it is now possible to use such devices in templates. This document
will describe how to do so using a gripper-based template as a running example.

Copyright c 2009-2023 by Universal Robots A/S, all rights reserved

Using a Device in a Template 1 Version 1.14.0


0 Contents

Contents

1 Introduction 3

2 Getting a List of Devices 3

3 Adding a Device Program Node 3

4 Configuring the Device Program Node 4


4.1 Capability Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Copyright c 2009-2023 by Universal Robots A/S, all rights reserved

Using a Device in a Template 2 Version 1.14.0


3 Adding a Device Program Node

1 Introduction
Creating template URCaps is a powerful way of helping the end user to easily configure the
robot to perform a specific complex task. Prior to the introduction of the concept of devices in
PolyScope, a template URCap developer would have to rely on inserting a Set program node,
Comment program node or similar to have the user do the final configuration of a device oper-
ation.

By using a device-based program node this is no longer necessary. The template program node
can automatically insert the desired device node and configure it to perform its operation.

The following sections will describe the pick functionality of a URCap template program node
for executing a Pick and Place operation. The template node will use a Gripper program node
for performing the grip and release actions. Even though a gripper is used in the example, the
steps taken can be generalized to working with other Polyscope devices as well.

2 Getting a List of Devices


When working with devices, it is first necessary to get the appropriate device manager. This
is done using the getDeviceManager(Class) method in the ProgramAPI interface (which is accessible
through the ProgramAPIProvider interface). The method should be called with the class of the

Copyright c 2009-2023 by Universal Robots A/S, all rights reserved


specific device manager. Using GripperManager.class as parameter will return the gripper manager
interface. This interface can, for instance, be used to retrieve a list of the installed PolyScope
gripper devices. An example of this can be seen in the code snippet in Listing 1.

Listing 1: Getting the list of installed gripper devices


1 Gripp erManag er g ripperM anager = apiProvider . getProgramAPI () . g et D e v i c e M a n a g e r (
Grip perManag er . class ) ;
2 List < GripperDevice > grippers = gripp erManage r . getGrippers () ;

The retrieved list can be presented to the end user in a combo box, so he can select which gripper
to use in the template. If only one gripper device is installed, this could be used directly. If no
gripper devices are installed, the end user should be informed of this and appropriate guiding
actions of how to resolve this should also be presented.

3 Adding a Device Program Node


When the device to use in the template has been selected, this will now form the basis for the
program node(s) to be inserted in the template. To create a device-based program node, the
device node factory must be used. This factory is found in the device manager inteface de-
scribed in the previous section. Call the getGripperProgramNodeFactory() method in this interface
to get the node factory. On the node factory interface, call the createGripperNode(GripperDevice)
method using the selected device as argument. This will return a new program node which can
be inserted as a child of the template node.

A root tree node is required to insert a child program node. To obtain the root tree node
of the template, use the getRootTreeNode() method in the ProgramModel interface available in the
ProgramAPI interface used in the previous section. An example of this is shown in the code snippet
in Listing 2.

Listing 2: Inserting a Gripper program node


1 GripperDevice s el e ct ed Gr i pp er = g e t S e l e c t e d G r i p p e r () ;

Using a Device in a Template 3 Version 1.14.0


4 Configuring the Device Program Node

2 G r i p p e r N o d e F a c t o r y factory = gripperM anager . g e t G r i p p e r P r o g r a m N o d e F a c t o r y () ;


3 GripperNode gripperNode = factory . c r e a t e G r i p p e r N o d e ( s el e ct ed Gr i pp er ) ;
4 TreeNode root = programModel . g et R oo tT re e No de ( this ) ;
5 try {
6 root . addChild ( gripperNode ) ;
7 } catch ( T r e e S t r u c t u r e E x c e p t i o n e ) {
8 e . pr i nt St ac k Tr ac e () ;
9 }

4 Configuring the Device Program Node


The Gripper program node created by the factory can be configured to help the end user of the
template as much as possible. This is done by creating the desired configuration using one of
the configuration builders provided by the GripperNode interface. A call to the build() method
will return a new instance of (a subtype of) GripperNodeConfig interface with the desired configu-
ration. Before calling the build() method, the builder can potentially have other setter methods
that can be used for setting different parameters of the configuration (see next section for more
details).

The newly built configuration instance can now be set on the Gripper program node itself. An
example of this can be seen in Listing 3.

Copyright c 2009-2023 by Universal Robots A/S, all rights reserved


Listing 3: Configuring a Gripper program node
1 G r i p A c t i o n C o n f i g B u i l d e r builder = node . c r e a t e G r i p A c t i o n C o n f i g B u i l d e r () ;
2 G r i p A c t i o n C o n f i g config = builder . build () ;
3 node . setConfig ( config ) ;

4.1 Capability Support


The various devices (of a specific type, e.g. grippers) available in PolyScope can support differ-
ent sets of capabilities ranging from a very basic device to a more advanced device supporting
several capabilities. A device can optionally provide additional capabilities besides the basic
mandatory functionality that all devices of that type must support. In the case of a gripper
device, the device must support basic grip and release functionality and it can additionally offer
more advanced capabilities, such as force gripping and support for multiple individual grippers
(i.e. the multi-gripper capability).

All the specific capabilities, that a gripper device can optionally support, are represented by in-
terfaces extending the CapabilitySupport base interface. Each interface provides the information
required for configuring the supported capability for a specific gripper device (the information
is not applicable for other gripper devices). This can used to configure a Gripper program node
which uses that specific gripper device.

An interface representing the support for a specific capability can be obtained using the method
getCapabilitySupport(Class<T>) in the GripperDevice interface. The method should be called with
the class of the specific capability support. Listing 4 shows an example of how to access the
support for the multi-gripper capability using MultiGripperSupport.class as parameter to the
getCapabilitySupport(Class<T>) method.

Listing 4: Getting the support for the multi-gripper capability for a gripper device
1 Optional < MultiGripperSupport > m u l t i G r i p p e r S u p p o r t = gripperDevice .
g e t C a p a b i l i t y S u p p o r t ( M u l t i G r i p p e r S u p p o r t . class ) ;

Using a Device in a Template 4 Version 1.14.0


4 Configuring the Device Program Node

The getCapabilitySupport(Class<T>) method can also be used just to check if the device supports
a specific capability (or set of capabilities). The result can be used to determine how to con-
figure the gripper device or to help decide which gripper device to select based on its capabilities.

The capability support interface returned by the getCapabilitySupport(Class<T>) method is wrapped


in an Optional instance (as seen in Listing 4). The isPresent() method of Optional instance can be
used to determine, if the specific gripper device supports the specified capability. If the capabil-
ity is supported, the capability support interface can be accessed using the Optional interface’s
get() method.

Since the various grippers available in PolyScope can support different sets of capabilities, the
isPresent() method should always be used to check, if a specific capability is available before
calling the get() method. Failing to do so will result in a NoSuchElementException being thrown, if
the capability is not supported.

The example in Listing 5 shows how to select a specific individual gripper in a Gripper node
configuration for a gripper device supporting multiple grippers (i.e. the multi-gripper capabil-
ity). This is achieved using the list af individual grippers available in the multi-gripper provided
by the MultiGripperSupport interface.

Listing 5: Configuring the multi-gripper capability

Copyright c 2009-2023 by Universal Robots A/S, all rights reserved


1 if ( m u l t i G r i p p e r S u p p o r t . isPresent () ) {
2 List < SelectableGripper > s e l e c t a b l e G r i p p e r s = m u l t i G r i p p e r S u p p o r t . get () .
g e t S e l e c t a b l e G r i p p e r s () ;
3 if (! s e l e c t a b l e G r i p p e r s . isEmpty () ) {
4 g r i p C o n f i g B u i l d e r . s e t G r i p p e r S e l e c t i o n ( s e l e c t a b l e G r i p p e r s . get (0) ) ;
5 }
6 }

For simplicity, the first available gripper is always selected in the example in Listing 5.

The setConfig(GripperNodeConfig) method in the GripperNode interface will throw an UnsupportedConfig


exception, if an attempt is made to apply a newly created configuration that uses a capability
that is not supported by the gripper device (used by the Gripper program node). The excep-
tion will also be thrown, if an existing configuration is taken from one Gripper program node
and reapplied to another Gripper program node, which uses a gripper device different from the
gripper device used by the original node (i.e. when reapplying an existing configuration the two
gripper devices must be identical).

Using a Device in a Template 5 Version 1.14.0

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