yourdfpy

Warnings

• gotcha The interactive visualization (`.show()`) relies on `pyglet`, which may require specific OpenGL drivers or X server configurations, especially in headless environments or on certain operating systems (e.g., WSL, virtual machines).
  Fix: Ensure your environment meets pyglet's graphical requirements. For headless environments, consider using `yourdfpy.visualization.urdf_to_scene` to get a `trimesh.Scene` object and render it with an alternative backend or export to an image.
• gotcha When loading URDF files with relative paths to meshes or other assets, `yourdfpy` expects the assets to be resolvable relative to the URDF file's location or through a configured filename handler. Incorrect paths are a common source of 'mesh not found' errors.
  Fix: Ensure your URDF file and its associated mesh files (e.g., .stl, .obj) are correctly placed relative to each other, or pass an absolute path to the URDF. For complex asset structures, consider implementing a custom `filename_handler` when loading the URDF (e.g., `URDF.load('robot.urdf', filename_handler=my_handler)`).
• gotcha The library is still in its `0.0.x` version series, indicating it's pre-1.0. While API stability is generally good, minor updates (`0.0.x` to `0.0.y`) could still introduce subtle behavior changes or require small adjustments, particularly concerning numerical precision or input data types.
  Fix: Monitor release notes for each update. Pay close attention to changes involving numerical calculations (e.g., NumPy array handling, kinematics) and ensure your input data types align with expected arguments, especially for methods like `update_cfg`.
• gotcha Passing joint configurations for `update_cfg` can be sensitive to the dictionary keys. It expects string keys that exactly match the joint names defined in the URDF. Mismatches will lead to joints not updating as expected.
  Fix: Always verify joint names in your URDF file or via `robot.joint_map.keys()` and ensure these exact strings are used as keys in the configuration dictionary passed to `update_cfg`.

Install

• pip install yourdfpy Install stable version

Imports

• URDF

  from yourdfpy import URDF

  The primary class for loading and managing URDF models. Direct import is standard.
• urdf_to_scene

  from yourdfpy.visualization import urdf_to_scene

  Function to convert a URDF object to a trimesh.Scene for advanced visualization or manipulation.

Quickstart

This quickstart demonstrates how to load a simple URDF model (either programmatically or from a file), update its joint configuration, and visualize it using the built-in interactive viewer. Ensure you have a graphics environment capable of running pyglet for the `robot.show()` method.

from yourdfpy import URDF, primitives

# Create a simple demo URDF programmatically (e.g., a multi-link chain)
robot = primitives.create_urdf(joints=['prismatic', 'revolute', 'fixed'])

# Alternatively, load from a file (replace 'path/to/robot.urdf' with your file)
# from yourdfpy import URDF
# robot = URDF.load('path/to/robot.urdf')

# You can update joint configurations
robot.update_cfg({'prismatic_0': 0.5, 'revolute_1': 0.785}) # move prismatic joint by 0.5 and revolute by 45 degrees

# Display the robot model in an interactive viewer
robot.show()

# Access robot properties
print(f"Robot name: {robot.name}")
print(f"Number of joints: {len(robot.joint_map)}")
print(f"Current configuration: {robot.config}")