Robotics StackExchange | Archived questions

Differences between Hardware Interfaces

Can someone please explain the differences between these Hardware Interfaces: Joint Command Interfaces

-Effort Joint Interface
-Velocity Joint Interface
-Position Joint Interface 

Joint State Interfaces Actuator State Interfaces Actuator Command Interfaces

-Effort Actuator Interface -Velocity Actuator Interface -Position Actuator Interface

Force-torque sensor Interface IMU sensor Interface ?

Thanks

Asked by nodge on 2015-05-21 00:48:43 UTC

Comments

Answers

-Effort Joint Interface
-Velocity Joint Interface
-Position Joint Interface 

From the respective class documentation, these interfaces allow reading state and commanding [effort|velocity|position]-based joints.

The same reasoning applies to the actuator-based interfaces. Actuators are connected to joints via mechanical transmissions, and you need to use them if you want ros_control to handle the mapping between joint and actuator spaces.

As to the force-torque and IMU interfaces, it's also in the docs. You can also browse the source and test suite if you need further insights or usage examples.

Asked by Adolfo Rodriguez T on 2015-05-21 02:43:29 UTC

Comments

@Adolfo Rodriguez T is it possible to work only in the joint space using just JointCommandInterface and JointStateInterface? For example when working with diff_drive_controller? When should we go with actuator-based interfaces? How does ROS define joint and actuator space?

Asked by fjp on 2020-03-12 09:52:15 UTC