How to generate .stl files

mesh
stl

asked 2011-09-24 20:40:54 -0500

VN
373 ●17 ●19 ●26

updated 2011-09-24 23:13:11 -0500

Martin Günther

11816 ●82 ●159 ●198 https://www.dfki.de/en...

How to generate .stl files for my robot? As far as I understand I need to create CAD model for each link and then export it as .stl file (binary not ascii?). Which one (Autodesk Inventor, SolidWorks...etc) provides binary .stl files? 'll the stl files from the CAD software work as it is OR do I need to change anything before using in URDF file?

edit retag flag offensive close merge delete

add a comment

4

answered 2011-09-24 23:31:08 -0500

Martin Günther

11816 ●82 ●159 ●198 https://www.dfki.de/en...

To answer your questions:

yes, you need to create CAD models of your robot links
the mesh formats that ROS understands are STL, DAE and Ogre
both Autodesk Inventor and SolidWorks can export to STL format
ROS (RViz etc.) understands both binary and ASCII STL
SolidWorks produces binary STL files that look like ASCII STL files, thereby confusing ROS; but these files can be fixed (search previous questions tagged "stl")
you can use ivcon to convert between binary and ASCII STL, and other formats
the STL files from the CAD software should work as they are; if you need to do some tweaking (rescaling, rotating, whatever), MeshLab comes in very handy

edit flag offensive delete link

Comments

I was able to open my mesh files in RViz, but not Gazebo. In Meshlab, Filters->Remeshing->Quadric Edge Collapse Decimation I reduced the number of faces to < 5000 for each mesh. The results were not pretty, but I am able to open CAD files with Gazebo and RViz now. Saved the resulting stl as binary.

Thomas D ( 2011-10-07 14:28:52 -0500 )edit

add a comment

2

answered 2011-09-24 23:17:11 -0500

martimorta

flag of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

841 ●14 ●18 ●34 http://www.linkedin.co...

Yes, you need to create a CAD model (for each link if they have DOF).

You can get binary stl files with SolidWorks, just marking the option when exporting the .stl file. You can use them straight from the CAD just take into account that the reference coordinates and units may change from SolidWorks to RViz.

If you just need a fast model you can use Google's SketchUP, I wrote this short how-to SketchUp to STL page.

If you find any exporting issues check out Meshlab