kortex_joystick_demo

This package contains a demo for using the Logitech f710 gamepad to control the Panther robot and Kinova Kortex gen3 manipulator.

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Setup Kinova manipulator with Panther

Connect the manipulator to your PC using an Ethernet cable.

1. Enable connection On Linux:

   • Go to: settings -> network -> wired -> advanced -> IPv4
   • Change IPV4 Method to Manual and set:
   • Address: 192.168.1.11
   • Netmask: 255.255.255.0
   • Restart network

2. Open Web browser and go to Kinova Kortex WebApp: 192.168.1.10

3. Open a menu and go to Network -> Ethernet

4. Change IPv4 address to 10.15.20.4 and IPv4 gateway to: 10.15.20.1. Save changes

   This will change the default Manipulator IP address from 192.168.1.11 to 10.15.20.4. To access Kinova Kortex WebApp use a new IP address.

5. Connect manipulator to RUTX11 router in Panther robot with Ethernet cable.

For more info about Kinova Kortex Gen3 refer to gen3-robots

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ROS node API

ROS node is translating the input from the gamepad topic /joy to kortex_driver topics responsible for managing the Kinova manipulator.

Publish

• /in/cartesian_velocity (kortex_driver/TwistCommand)
• /in/emergency_stop (std_msgs/Empty)
• /in/clear_faults (std_msgs/Empty)

Subscribe

• /joy (sensor_msgs/Joy)
• /base_feedback (kortex_driver/BaseCyclic_Feedback)

Parameters

The following parameters change velocity limits for the Kinova manipulator and gripper closed position.

• ~max_linear_vel (float, default: 0.2)
• ~min_linear_vel (float, default: 0.05)
• ~max_angular_vel (float, default: 0.5)
• ~min_angular_vel (float, default: 0.05)
• ~gripper_closed_position (float, default: 0.8)

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Controlling Kinova manipulator and mobile robot

By default, after a successful launch, the manipulator will be controlled by the gamepad. It is assumed that the joy interface has already been launched. In case of any issues, please follow the instructions under joy2twist To start driving the robot and disable the manipulator press the LB button (disable movement). To switch back to using the manipulator press the A button (enable movement).

Manipulator button mapping

Button	Function
LEFT STICK	manipulator steering - X Y
RIGHT STICK	manipulator steering - Z
UP CROSS KEY	increase speed
DOWN CROSS KEY	decrease speed
A	enable movement
B	emergency stop
X	linear mode
Y	angular mode
LB	disable movement
LT	close gripper
RT	open gripper

To move the manipulator use sticks. By default, cartesian linear/angular movement in X and Y is held by the left stick and linear/angular Z movement is controlled with the right stick.

Robot button mapping

Button	Function
LEFT STICK	velocity steering - angular X
RIGHT STICK	velocity steering - linear Z
LB	enable driving
RB	slow driving mode
RT	fast driving mode
A	Reset E-stop
B	Trigger E-stop
LT	Enable E-stop reset

If neither RB nor RT is pressed, the robot operates in regular driving mode.

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Docker image

ROS distro	Supported architectures
noetic	linux/amd64

Available on Docker Hub

Demo

Running on Panther's User Computer

1. Access User Computer via ssh

   ssh husarion@10.15.20.3

   The default password is husarion

2. Clone this repo on your Panther:

   git clone https://github.com/husarion/kortex_joystick_demo.git

3. If you are using Kinova Gen3 Lite, edit .env file and change KINOVA_ARM_MODEL to gen3_lite.

4. Launch the demo

   Setup virtual desktop and run demo:

   cd kortex_joystick_demo/demo
   source ./setup_virtual_desktop.sh
   docker compose \
      -f compose.ouster.yaml \
      -f compose.kinova.yaml \
      -f compose.rviz.yaml \
      -f compose.vnc.yaml \
      up

5. Use Logitech gamepad to control either Panther or Kinova Manipulator (Instruction).

Running on custom computer with gamepad

Note: Gamepad docker is launched by default on the Panhter robot. To use it directly from your PC, you have to disable it on the robot first. See Disable Gamepad on the Panther robot section for instructions.

1. Clone this repo

   git clone https://github.com/husarion/kortex_joystick_demo.git

2. Setup network (for this step you need to know your computer IP in Panthers network, you can check it using the ifconfig command). Then, edit net.env file and change ROS_IP. Example IP address can be: 10.15.20.147.

3. If you are using Kinova Gen3 Lite, edit .env file and change KINOVA_ARM_MODEL to gen3_lite.

4. Launch the demo

   cd kortex_joystick_demo/demo
   xhost local:docker
   docker compose \
      -f compose.ouster.yaml \
      -f compose.kinova.yaml \
      -f compose.rviz.yaml \
      -f compose.gamepad.yaml \
      up

5. Use Logitech gamepad to control either Panther or Kinova Manipulator (Instruction).

Disable Gamepad on the Panther robot

1. Log into Built-in Computer:

ssh husarion@10.15.20.2

2. Edit compose.yaml file with command below and comment out or remove gamepad_controller service section:

nano compose.yaml

3. Restart Docker:

docker compose up -d --force-recreate