Interfacing a new robot with PyRobot

In the following context, we will use <ROBOT_NAME> to represent the robot name.

Create a new configuration file

The first step for interfacing with a new robot is to create a new configuration file. The configuration file name should follow the following naming convention: <ROBOT_NAME>_config.py. The easiest way to create this file is to inherit the pre-defined configurations in src/pyrobot/cfg/config.py. In config.py, we have defined some configurations that are required in the Robot and ARM class. Each configuration here should be given the proper values.

An example of how to write the configuration file can be found in pyrobot/cfg/sawyer_config.py. sawyer_config.py inherits the configurations defined in config.py and changes the default values for these configurations. sawyer_config.py also shows how to add more configurations specific to the new robot in the configuration file.

Inherit the PyRobot parent classes

The next step is to inherit the existing PyRobot parent classes (Arm, Gripper, Camera, Base).

Create a folder in src/pyrobot named as <ROBOT_NAME>.
Create a python script named as arm.py, gripper.py, base.py, or camera.py depending on what hardwares the new robot have. For example, if the new robot has all these 4 components, then you should create 4 files above. If the new robot only has arm and gripper, you should only create arm.py and gripper.py.
In each file, create a new class (the class name should be consistent with the configuration CLASS in <ROBOT_NAME>_config.py) and inherit the PyRobot parent class.
You should reuse as many methods as possible in the parent class. If the new robot does not support a method, you can overwrite the method and raise an error if the method is being called. Overall, the library is very flexible and you can overwrite any method. An example of writing an arm.py can be found in src/pyrobot/sawyer. In the case of Sawyer robot, we only need to overwrite the command publish functions to make the code compatible with pyrobot.

Write unit tests

After finishing the code, you should write unit tests for the new robot, if possible. Examples of unit tests can be found in tests/.

Add examples

You are suggested to add examples in examples/. Create a new folder called <ROBOT_NAME>, and add your example files.