sas_force_sensor_bota

Tip

Repository for this package: https://github.com/MarinhoLab/sas_force_sensor_bota
More information about SmartArmStack is available in https://smartarmstack.github.io/.

Bota Systems package compliant with sas.

Quick start

Docker examples that do not need any installation or cloning the repository.

EtherCat

See config/ethercat_gen0.json for the example configuration file.

mkdir -p ~/sas_tutorial_workspace/docker/sas_force_sensor_bota/demo
cd ~/sas_tutorial_workspace/docker/sas_force_sensor_bota/demo
curl -OL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/MarinhoLab/sas_force_sensor_bota/refs/heads/jazzy/docker/demo/compose_ethercat.yml

xhost +local:root
docker compose -f compose_ethercat.yml up

Serial Communication

See config/bota_binary_gen0.json for the example configuration file.

mkdir -p ~/sas_tutorial_workspace/docker/sas_force_sensor_bota/demo
cd ~/sas_tutorial_workspace/docker/sas_force_sensor_bota/demo
curl -OL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/MarinhoLab/sas_force_sensor_bota/refs/heads/jazzy/docker/demo/compose.yml

xhost +local:root
docker compose up

Pre-requisites

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/MarinhoLab/sas_force_sensor_bota/refs/heads/jazzy/docker/install.sh
chmod +x install.sh && . install.sh

Running sensor server

ros2 launch sas_force_sensor_bota force_sensor_launch.py

The launch file loads the parameters from config/config.yaml (override with config_file:=/path/to/config.yaml). The hardware-specific JSON configuration (configuration_file_path) is embedded in the YAML file: config/config.yaml points at bota_binary_gen0.json and config/config_ethercat.yaml points at ethercat_gen0.json (for the EtherCAT hardware).

Configurable Parameter	Meaning
config_file (launch argument)	Path to the YAML configuration file. Defaults to config/config.yaml; use config_ethercat.yaml for the EtherCAT hardware.

ROS 2 Nodes & Parameters

Node: sas_force_sensor_bota_node

Property	Value
Executable	sas_force_sensor_bota_node
ROS node name	sas_force_sensor_bota_node (set by the name launch argument of force_sensor_launch.py)
Description	Reads the Bota force/torque sensor, publishes the wrench on <topic_name>/get/wrench, and keeps the sensor configured/activated for the node lifetime.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Mandatory / Optional	Default	Purpose
topic_name	string	Optional	/sas_force_sensor_bota	Topic prefix; e.g. when there are multiple sensors in the same ROS_DOMAIN
configuration_file_path	string	Optional	in-code default pointing at config/bota_binary_gen0.json in the package share directory	Path to the Bota JSON configuration file (hardware-specific). May be given as an absolute path or as a filename relative to the package config/ directory (as in the sample YAML files)
sampling_time	double	Optional	0.01	Sampling period of the read loop, in seconds

How mandatory/optional is determined in code:

• Mandatory params are declared without a default — the node fails if they are not provided.
• Optional params are declared with an in-code default.

Sample launch

ros2 launch sas_force_sensor_bota force_sensor_launch.py

To use the EtherCAT JSON configuration (select the EtherCAT YAML, which embeds configuration_file_path: ethercat_gen0.json):

ros2 launch sas_force_sensor_bota force_sensor_launch.py config_file:=$(ros2 pkg prefix sas_force_sensor_bota --share)/config/config_ethercat.yaml

Example client

ros2 run sas_force_sensor_bota sas_force_sensor_client_example_node