C++ library for schunk powerball lwa4p (linux)

contributor: Amir Memar

Description of files can be found in docs/file_description.md

Required libraries

Hardware

ntcan (CAN-USB) : https://esd.eu/en (Download the latest driver from https://esd.eu/en/software-downloads/27071 - ntcanSck (or) install it from the ESD driver CD).
- Socketcan : http://www.pengutronix.de/software/libsocketcan/download/
- iproute2 : https://github.com/shemminger/iproute2
  - iproute2 might require flex and bison (sudo apt-get install flex; sudo apt-get install bison). "ip link show : should show the connected can device" if you face issues with the installation (aligned_u64), try this https://github.com/cloudflare/bpftools/commit/b1bbc6b2a35be84d38355f5e9da1382554ba7f70
Phidget21 : https://www.phidgets.com/downloads/phidget21/libraries/linux/libphidget/

Software

Boost library : sudo apt-get install libboost-all-dev
BLAS and LAPACK : sudo apt-get install libblas-dev liblapack-dev
OpenBLAS : http://www.openblas.net/
Matplotlib-cpp : https://github.com/lava/matplotlib-cpp
TooN library : Edward Rosten - https://github.com/edrosten/TooN
Armadillo : http://arma.sourceforge.net/download.html
CSV stream : https://github.com/vincentlaucsb/csv-parser#integration A useful cpp file for reading the csv files

Instructions to install the package

- git clone https://github.com/srisadhan/powerball.git
- cd powerball
- mkdir build
- cmake CMakeLists.txt -Bbuild
- make Makefile
- make

Instructions for the Weiss force sensor

For using force sensor along with ethernet in linux, modify the /etc/network/interfaces to

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

# Obtain DHCP address from server  
auto en01
iface en01 inet dhcp

# Connect to 192.168.1.10 network over the pcie-ethernet card for force sensor
auto enp2s0
iface enp2s0 inet static
    address 192.168.1.10
    netmask 255.255.255.0

replace the en01, enp2s0 to the ethernet adapters recognized on your computer using 'ifconfig'

For more information, please check: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/42922949/two-wired-connection-at-the-same-time

How to include dynamixel libraries in your own projects

Install dynamixel sdk
place the "DynamixelSDK/c++/include" folder in your current project or include the directory "/usr/local/include/dynamixel_sdk" in your project
Run the following command

g++ read_write.cpp -o read_write -ldxl_x64_cpp -lrt -I include/dynamixel_sdk

(or)

g++ read_write.cpp -o read_write -ldxl_x64_cpp -lrt -I <dynamixel_include_files>

The linking libraries are -lrt (for multi-threading) and -ldxl_x64_cpp (dynamixel libraries)

How to improve the dynamixel communication frequency

The communication frequency is throttled by the latency_timer parameter in port_handler_linux.cpp - (default value is listed at 16 above ubuntu 16.04)

Change this value to "0" to increase the communication frequency - currently the best I can achieve is 200 Hz for a single dynamixel

Follow the following instructions (also listed in port_handler_linux.cpp) in the terminal to set the latency_timer automatically:

$ echo ACTION==\"add\", SUBSYSTEM==\"usb-serial\", DRIVER==\"ftdi_sio\", ATTR{latency_timer}=\"0\" > 99-dynamixelsdk-usb.rules
$ sudo cp ./99-dynamixelsdk-usb.rules /etc/udev/rules.d/
$ sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
$ sudo udevadm trigger --action=add
$ cat /sys/bus/usb-serial/devices/ttyUSB0/latency_timer

If you are getting RxTx errors and observe a lot of timeout errors on the dynamixel. It is sometimes a good practice to use the recovery tool from the dynamixel wizard and hope it resolves the issue.

11/14/21 Added Robotiq FT-300 sensor support

There are 3 files included in the "powerball/include/robotiq_ft_sensor folder":

rq_int.h
rq_sensor_com.h
rq_sensor_state.h

and, 2 files included in the "powerball/src":

rq_sensor_com.cpp
rq_sensor_state.cpp