Demo (C, C++):

Lifting Mechanism Control Demo

1. Project introduction

This project demonstrates how to control the lifting mechanism of a compound lifting robot to perform object handling tasks. The task flow is as follows:

It controls the lift movement to a specified height in a non-blocking manner. Simultaneously, the robotic arm moves to a preparatory grasping position. The robotic arm then uses movel to move forward a certain distance while controlling the gripper to apply a continuous gripping force. After the object is grasped, the robotic arm moves backward a certain distance, returning to the preparatory position. The lift then moves to another height in a blocking mode. Once the lift reaches the target height, the robotic arm moves forward again, and the gripper releases the object. After releasing the object, the robotic arm moves backward to the preparatory position.

It is built with CMake and utilizes the C language development package for the robotic arm provided by RealMan.

2. Code structure

RMDemo_Lift
├── build              # Output directory generated by CMake build (Makefile, build file, etc.)
├── include              # Custom header file storage directory
├── Robotic_Arm          RealMan robotic arm secondary development package
│   ├── include
│   │   ├── rm_define.h  # Header file of the robotic arm secondary development package, containing defined data types and structures
│   │   └── rm_interface.h # Header file of the robotic arm secondary development package, declaring all operation interfaces of the robotic arm口
│   └── lib
│       ├── api_c.dll    # API library for Windows 64bit
│       ├── api_c.lib    # API library for Windows 64bit
│       └── libapi_c.so  # API library for Linux x86
├── src
│   └── main.c           # Main function
├── CMakeLists.txt       # Top-level CMake configuration file of the project
├── readme.md            # Detailed document provided for the demo project
├── run.bat              # Windows quick run script
└── run.sh               # linux quick run script

3. Project download

Download RM_API2 locally via the link: development package download. Then, navigate to the RM_API2\Demo\RMDemo_C directory, where you will find RMDemo_Lift.

4. Environment configuration

Required environment and dependencies for running in Windows and Linux environments:

Item	Linux	Windows
System architecture	x86 architecture	-
Compiler	GCC 7.5 or higher	MSVC2015 or higher 64bit
CMake version	3.10 or higher	3.10 or higher
Specific dependency	RMAPI Linux version library (located in the Robotic_Arm/lib directory)	RMAPI Windows version library (located in the Robotic_Arm/libdirectory)

Linux configuration

1. Compiler (GCC) In most Linux distributions, GCC is installed by default, but the version may not be the latest. If a specific version of GCC (such as 7.5 or higher) is required, it can be installed via the package manager. For example, on Ubuntu, you can use the following commands to install or update GCC:

# Check GCC version
gcc --version

sudo apt update
sudo apt install gcc-7 g++-7

Note: If the GCC version installed by default on the system meets or exceeds the required version, no additional installation is necessary.

2. CMake CMake can also be installed through the package manager in most Linux distributions. For example, on Ubuntu:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install cmake

# Check CMake version
cmake --version

Windows configuration

• Compiler (MSVC2015 or higher): The MSVC (Microsoft Visual C++) compiler is typically installed with Visual Studio. You can install it by following these steps:

  1. Visit the Visual Studio official website to download and install Visual Studio.
  2. During installation, select the "Desktop development with C++" workload, which will include the MSVC compiler.
  3. Select additional components as needed, such as CMake (if not already installed).
  4. After installation, open the Visual Studio command prompt (available in the start menu) and enter the cl command to check if the MSVC compiler is installed successfully.

• CMake: If CMake was not included during the Visual Studio installation, you can download and install CMake separately.

  1. Visit the CMake official website to download the installer for Windows.
  2. Run the installer and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.
  3. After installation, add the CMake bin directory to the system's PATH environment variable (this is typically asked during installation).
  4. Open the command prompt or PowerShell and enter cmake --version to check if CMake has been installed successfully.

5. User guide

5.1 Quick run

Follow these steps to quickly run the code:

1. Configuration of the IP address of the robotic arm: Open the main.c file and modify the parameters of the robot_ip_address in the main function to the current IP address of the robotic arm. The default IP address is "192.168.1.18".

   const char *robot_ip_address = "192.168.1.18";
   int robot_port = 8080;
   rm_robot_handle *robot_handle = rm_create_robot_arm(robot_ip_address, robot_port);

2. Running via linux command line: Navigate to the RMDemo_Lift directory in the terminal, and enter the following command to run the C program:

   chmod +x run.sh
   ./run.sh

   The running result is as follows:
   

   The running effect is shown in the image below:
   
   

3. Running on Windows: Double-click the run.bat script to run, the running result is as follows:

5.2 Description of key codes

The following are the main functions of the main.c:

• Connect the robotic arm Connect the robotic arm to the specified IP address and port.

  rm_robot_handle *robot_handle = rm_create_robot_arm(robot_ip_address, robot_port);

• Switch the work frame

  int change_frame_result = rm_change_work_frame(robot_handle, "Base");
  printf("Change work frame: %d\n", change_frame_result);

• Control the lift movement

  rm_set_lift_height(robot_handle, 20, 500, true);

• Execute the movej_p motion

  //Move the robot arm to the initial position
  rm_pose_t pose_movej_p = {{0.1f, 0.0f, 0.7f}, {0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f}, {0.0f, 0.0f, 3.141f}};
  result = rm_movej_p(robot_handle, pose_movej_p, 20, 0, 0, 1);

• Execute the movel motion

  rm_pose_t pose_movel = {{0.1f, 0.0f, 0.8f}, {0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f}, {0.0f, 0.0f, 3.141f}};
  result = rm_movel(robot_handle, pose_movel, 10, 0, 0, 1);

• Control the gripper for continuous force gripping

  rm_set_gripper_pick_on(robot_handle, 500, 200, true, 10);

• Execute the movel motion again

  rm_movel(robot_handle, pose_movej_p, 10, 0, 0, 1);

• Control the lift movement again

  rm_set_lift_height(robot_handle, 10, 200, true);

• Release the gripper

  rm_set_gripper_release(robot_handle, 500, true, 30);

• Disconnect from the robotic arm

  rm_delete_robot_arm(robot_handle);

6. License information

• This project is subject to the MIT license.