Configure a Manipulator

Learning Objectives

After completing this tutorial, you will have learned:

• How to adjust articulation solver settings
• How to configure physics materials (friction)
• How to set joint effort limits
• How to inspect articulations using Physics Inspector
• How to tune joint drive gains using Gain Tuner

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Complete Tutorial 6: Setup a Manipulator before starting this tutorial.

Estimated Time

Approximately 15-20 minutes.

Overview

In this tutorial, you will configure physics properties, joint effort limits, and drive gains for the UR10e robot and Robotiq 2F-140 gripper to improve stability and accuracy for manipulation tasks.

Adjusting the Articulation

1. Select the ur/root_joint prim and enable Articulation.

2. Increase the Solver Position Iterations Count.

3. Increase the Solver Velocity Iterations Count.

4. Decrease the Sleep Threshold.

5. Decrease the Stabilization Threshold.

   

Adding Physics Materials

1. Create a Physics Material (Rigid Body Material).

2. Configure static and dynamic friction.

3. Apply the material to the gripper finger tips.

Configuring Joint Effort Limits

1. Select the finger_joint prim.

2. Set the Max Force value.

Inspecting the Robot Articulation

1. Open the Physics Inspector.

2. Refresh the articulation and test joint positioning.

   

Tuning Gains with Gain Tuner

1. Access the Gain Tuner tool.

2. Select the robot articulation and adjust joint gains.

   

Summary

This tutorial covered the following topics:

1. Adjusting articulation solver settings
2. Configuring physics materials (friction)
3. Setting joint effort limits
4. Inspecting articulations with Physics Inspector
5. Tuning joint gains with Gain Tuner

Next Steps

Proceed to the next tutorial, "Generate Robot Configuration File", to learn how to generate configuration files for kinematics solvers.