Care-O-bot Family

Care-O-bot 4

See http://wiki.ros.org/Robots/cob4

Care-O-bot 3

Care-O-bot 4

See http://wiki.ros.org/Robots/cob3

Care-O-bot 3 is unsupported since indigo.

Installation

1. Setup your desktop machine

The recommended way for most of the users is to use the stable releases. Unstable should only be used if you need new features which aren't available in the stable releases. Directly downloading and installing the sources from git is only recommended for developers if you want to modify stacks.

Stable Releases (well tested)

Version Control (brand new features, but not tested)

From git sources

2. Setup the robot machines (for robot administrators)

If you want to setup the installation on the robot, please have a look at the Care-O-bot Manual.

Capability Overview

1. Basic Configuration

Component	ROS package/stack
Robot-specific Messages
Robot-specific Services	cob_srvs
Robot model (URDF)	cob_description
Machine configuration	cob_bringup

2. Hardware Drivers - Care-O-bot4

Component	ROS package/stack
Mobile Base	ros_canopen
Sick S300 sensors	sick_flexisoft
Battery management	cob_bms
LEDs	cob_light
Torso Axis	ros_canopen
Asus Xtion	openni2_camera
Realsense	realsense_camera
Head Axis	ros_canopen
Sensorring Axis	ros_canopen

3. High-Level Capabilities

Component	ROS package/stack
Teleop	cob_teleop,cob_command_gui
Mimic	cob_mimic
Sound	cob_sound
Navigation	cob_navigation
Arm motion planning	cob_arm_navigation, cob_manipulator
Manipulation	cob_manipulation
Perception	cob_object_perception, cob_people_perception, cob_environment_perception

Running

1. Environment variables

By using the stacks you will be prompted to set two environment variables ROBOT and ROBOT_ENV:

ROBOT, this variable is used to define which configuration of Care-O-bot or rob@work you are going to use (see full list of robots on the distribution site). Currently you can set it to:
- cob4-1: Care-O-bot 4 with fully actuated torso and head
- cob4-2: Care-O-bot 4 with fixed torso and head
- raw3-1: Rob@work 3 (Long Base) with a Universal Robot arm and 1 Schunk PW torso
- raw3-3: Rob@work 3 (Short Base) without manipulator
ROBOT_ENV, this variable is used to define in which environment you are going to use the robot. Currently you can set it to:
- empty: Empty environment
- ipa-apartment: Apartment environment at Fraunhofer IPA
- ipa-kitchen: Former kitchen environment at Fraunhofer IPA
- ipa-office: Office environment at Fraunhofer IPA
- ipa-production-plant: Virtual production plant test environment
- automotive-assembly-line: Virtual automotive factory test environment

2. Using Care-O-bot in simulation

Have a look at the cob_bringup_sim package to bringup Care-O-bot in simulation.

3. Using a real Care-O-bot

For starting bringup on a real Care-O-bot, please have a look at the Care-O-bot manual and the cob_bringup package.

Tutorials

Please see the official Care-O-bot tutorials.

Support

Please consult the Care-O-bot manual or visit ros answers to see if your problem is already solved.

Please use github issues to report bugs or request features. We are also happy to receive github pull requests. Please see our guidelines for opening issues and pull requests.

Related Repositories

Please find a list of all Care-O-bot related repositories on github.