Robotiq gripper
The robotiq gripper is controlled over tcp with a regular network cable to the controller. You can set gripping force, speed etc.
You can use it either as a on/off gripper or move both fingers to a specific position, in incremental values in the interval (0-255), where 255 is completely closed.
Connect the gripper to the control box if not already connected.
The control box needs 24V provided externally. Currently, we are using a lab-style variable voltage power supply. Be careful to not accidentally change the voltage! This should be replaced by a dedicated 24V power supply. There is now a 24V power supply permanently connected to the control box.
From the controller, connect a ethernet cable from ETH0 to an available network port on your computer. The IP of the gripper is 192.168.1.11, so for the connection on you PC you can set e.g. 192.168.1.2.
Make sure you can ping the controller before you continue.
ros-industrial provides communication classes and easy-to-use rosnodes to control the gripper from your application.
Get it from the official repository: Robotiq and ROS/Robotiq
(First terminal) run "rosrun robotiq_s_model_control SModelTcpNode.py 192.168.1.11" (Second terminal) run "rosrun robotiq_s_model_control SModelSimpleController.py" (Third terminal - optional) run "rosrun robotiq_s_model_control SModelStatusListener.py"
In the controller (second terminal), first send "a" to active the gripper. Then check close and open by sending "c" and "o".
More details can be found here
The serial number of our gripper is: C-3671. We have the modbus/tcp version of the control box. drivers and online documentation can be found at Robotiq's support site
Follow the last column since we have 2-Finger 85.
A higher-level wrapper for our Robotiq S model can be found here
- Be careful to use the correct branch of git repositories (i.e., indigo at the moment)
If you are getting a solid red led on the gripper, the chances are that the gripper is not nicely mounted on its plate (i.e., the connectors are not connected!). To solve this, you should use the screws to tighten up the gripper to its plate.