xarm-grpc

A gRPC service implemenation for controlling UFACTORY xArm series using the xArm-CPLUS-SDK.

The dependencies are added as subomodules, so when cloning this repository, do:

$ git clone git@github.com:Interactions-HSG/xarm-grpc.git --recursive

This project implements the following:

• xarm-grpc-service: The gRPC service responsible for the Modbus/TCP connection management and packet generation (i.e., xArmAPI object) providing the xArmAPI as a service.
• xarm-commander: A gRPC client implemented as a C++ CLI Tool to run commands on xArms. For further information about the xarm-commander go to section Tools.

The proto file is defined in proto/xapi.proto based on xarm_api.h.

The following services are specific to the connection management:

• Initialize: instantiate a xArmAPI object and connect the server to a xArm specified by the -x option.
• Disconnect: close the connection to the xArm.

Preparation

xArm-CPLUS-SDK

To use the xarm-grpc-service first install the xArm-PLUS-SDK library:

$ make -C libs/xArm-CPLUS-SDK xarm

cmake, gRPC and Protocol Buffers

Follow the gRPC's Quick start guide to install cmake, gRPC, and Protocol Buffers.

The rest of this document assumes you have installed gRPC and Protocol Buffers in ~/.local.

Build xarm-grpc-service and xarm-commander

$ mkdir -p cmake/build && cd cmake/build
$ cmake -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=~/.local ../..
$ make -j

Synopsis

The gRPC service can be started using following command:

$ xarm-grpc-service start

Then use a gRPC client (e.g., xarm-commander) to send commands to the xArm.

To close the gRPC service run:

$ xarm-grpc-service stop

For further description about usage of the xarm-grpc-service, use -h or --help.

Tools

The Tools directory includes available clients for the xarm-grpc-service. Currently, the following clients are implemented:

• xarm-commander: A gRPC client implemented as a C++ CLI Tool to run commands on xArms. For further instructions on how to use the xarm-commander see here.

Dependencies

• CLI11
• CMake
• Easylogging++
• {fmt}
• gRPC
• xArm-CPLUS-SDK

How to contribute to this project?

See CONTRIBUTING.md.

Maintainers

• Iori Mizutani (@iomz)

Contributors

See here

License

See LICENSE.