Allegro Hand ZMQ Interface

Adapted from https://github.com/simlabrobotics/allegro_hand_linux_v4

This interface allows communication with a v4 Allegro hand via ZMQ on the NUC of a Panda Franka robotic arm.

Required hardware

Setup instructions

Prerequisites

1. PCAN-USB driver

Download, build, and install PCAN-USB driver for Linux "libpcan"

tar -xzvf peak-linux-driver-x.x.tar.gz
cd peak-linux-driver-x.x
make NET=NO
sudo make install

Troubleshooting

If encounter

src/pcan-settings.c:47:10: fatal error: popt.h: No such file or directory
   47 | #include <popt.h>
    |      	^~~~~~~~
compilation terminated.

Run

sudo apt install libpopt-dev

2. `libpcanbasic`

Download, build, and install PCAN-Basic API for Linux: libpcanbasic

tar -xzvf PCAN_Basic_Linux-x.x.x.tar.gz
cd PCAN_Basic_Linux-x.x.x/pcanbasic
make
sudo make install

3. `libBHand` grasping library

Download, build, and install Grasping Library for Linux, "libBHand": Grasping_Library_for_Linux

unzip LibBHand_{32|64}.zip
cd libBHand_{32|64}
sudo make install
sudo ldconfig

Installing this interface

Build using cmake "out of source build" style.

cd allegro_zmq
mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
make
make install

Usage

Launching the interface

Connect PCAN-USB and Allegro Hand (connect to the NUC of franka robot)
Power on the Allegro Hand.
Start the grasping program: "grasp": build/bin/grasp on the NUC. You should see the configuration of your hand print out.

Controlling via ZMQ

ws_control.py is an example code that runs on a workstation using Python. Make sure to replace localhost with the correct IP address of the NUC in this code.

j96w/allegro_zmq