Should urdf_parser_py be in a different repo?

[jacquelinekay]

Why is urdf_parser_py in this repository?

It contains ROS-specific code, e.g. from_parameter_server, which imports rospy when called:

urdfdom/urdf_parser_py/src/urdf_parser_py/urdf.py

Line 443 in 59433bb

def from_parameter_server(cls, key = 'robot_description'):

It is released in a separate ROS package (ros-indigo-urdf-parser-py).

It seems to me that it should either be moved into robot_model, OR from_parameter_server should be removed and it should be released as a python package (to be installed using pip, for example).

@isucan, @eacousineau, etc. what are your thoughts?

[isucan]

+1 for separate repo

[jacquelinekay]

should I move it to robot_model or make a new repo entirely for urdf_parser_py?

[isucan]

I would move it to a new urdf_parser_py

[traversaro]

Distributing urdf_parser_py only as a ROS (Catkin) package would make much more difficult to use urdf_parser_py in Windows.
To clarify our use case: mechanical people use Windows (because most CAD modeling software is available on Windows), and then they export their CAD model to URDF using https://github.com/robotology/simmechanics-to-urdf (that clearly does not use from_parameter_server).
Unfortunately it appears that the from_parameter_server method is quite used, so moving urdf_parser_py to a ROS package is the right thing to do.
I would probably need to maintain a fork of urdf_parser_py that does not use Catkin, and keep it in synch with the urdf_parser_py ROS package.
cc @fiorisi

[jacquelinekay]

@traversaro I'll keep cross-platform compatibility in mind when I do this.

[traversaro]

@jacquelinekay I noticed that catkin is also distributed through pip, so perhaps it is not so traumatic to install it on Windows.

[jacquelinekay]

Windows development is usually traumatic for me :P

[jacquelinekay]

With regards to your concerns, Silvio, my vision is for urdf_parser_py to be cross-platform and ROS-free, and to have a separate catkin package in the robot_model repo to wrap the module with ROS-specific utilities, like communicating with the parameter server. I'm going to start by just separating it out into a different repo (and possibly doing a release).

I confirmed with Ioan that urdf_parser_py is only released as a ROS package right now, but it sounds like your team does your own packaging to use it on Windows, is that correct?

[traversaro]

Yes, we use it by installing through the (pure, non-catkin) CMake code in this repo.

Thanks, what you just proposed is ideal.

[traversaro]

For the sake of precision: I actually noticed that we install the urdf_parser_py script using the classical python setup.py install, see https://github.com/robotology/simmechanics-to-urdf#install-dependencies-2 .

[jacquelinekay]

#80
https://github.com/ros/urdf_parser_py
ros/urdf_parser_py#1

todo:

• Set up Travis for new repo
• properly set up ROS Wiki pages for respective packages

[jacquelinekay]

As a side note, why is the ROS deb called urdfdom-py while the package is called urdf_parser_py in github and in the setup.py? I prefer the name urdf_parser_py myself, but I guess it's more important not to disrupt the configuration of many users by change the name of the debian.