gen3_macro.xacro can't be used to generate urdf

[patrickwasp]

running xacro src/ros2_kortex/kortex_description/arms/gen3/6dof/urdf/gen3_macro.xacro returns

<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<!-- =================================================================================== -->
<!-- |    This document was autogenerated by xacro from src/ros2_kortex/kortex_description/arms/gen3/6dof/urdf/gen3_macro.xacro | -->
<!-- |    EDITING THIS FILE BY HAND IS NOT RECOMMENDED                                 | -->
<!-- =================================================================================== -->
<robot name="gen3_arm">
</robot>

this causes moveit setup assistant to crash with Error: No link elements found in urdf file

[felixmaisonneuve]

Hi @patrickwasp,

We usually run the xacro command on the gen3_robotiq_2f_85.xacro and gen3_robotiq_2f_140.xacro files (in kortex_description/robots folder), so some arguments are specified

ros2_kortex/kortex_description/robots/gen3_robotiq_2f_85.xacro

Lines 6 to 13 in a2f018a

	<xacro:arg name="arm" default="gen3" />
	<xacro:arg name="dof" default="7" />
	<xacro:arg name="vision" default="true" />
	<xacro:arg name="gripper" default="robotiq_2f_85" />
	<xacro:arg name="sim" default="false" />
	<xacro:arg name="prefix" default="" />

If you run the xacro command on the gen3_macro.xacro file directly, arguments are not specified, so things might not work.
E.g. here the file cannot be found correctly because dof is not defined
https://github.com/Kinovarobotics/ros2_kortex/blob/main/kortex_description/arms/gen3/6dof/urdf/gen3_macro.xacro#L35

This probably explains why your file is empty.

What you could do is run the xacro command on the gen3.xacro file (in kortex_description/robots) and specify the arguments manually instead
something like xacro src/ros2_kortex/kortex_description/robots/gen3.xacro arm:=gen3 dof:=6 vision:=false...

Hope this helps,
Felix

[patrickwasp]

Since this xacro file is in kortex_description/arms/gen3/6dof/, which already specifies 6dof, could we have 6 be set as the default in the gen3_macro.xacro file?

[felixmaisonneuve]

You can do make the modification on your side, but since the default use case does not require you to convert this file directly, I would prefer not to change it