movensys-manipulator Setup

Set up the movensys-manipulator stack once before running any of the manipulator scenarios. The examples run inside a Docker container; the host only needs the environment variables, network tuning, and the cloned repository described below.

1. Host environment

Add the following to your ~/.bashrc (source it afterwards). The variables select the ROS distro, the build flavor, the CPU architecture, and the robot model, and define the mros helper used to run commands inside the container.

export ROS_DOMAIN_ID=73                         # use any number
export ROS_DISTRO=jazzy                         # {jazzy, humble}
export MOVENSYS_ROS_VERSION=isaac-ros_4.1       # {isaac-ros_4.1, isaac-ros_3.2, general}
export CPU_ARCH=amd64                           # {amd64, arm64}
export MANIPULATOR_MODEL=dobot_cr3a             # {dobot_cr3a, dobot_cr5a}

export HOST_USER_UID=$(id -u)
export HOST_USER_GID=$(id -g)
export RMW_IMPLEMENTATION=rmw_cyclonedds_cpp

export MOVENSYS_MANIPULATOR_PACKAGES=~/workspaces/movensys_ws/src/movensys-manipulator
export ISAAC_ROS_WS=~/workspaces/isaac_ros-dev

mros() {
  if [ $# -eq 0 ]; then
    docker exec -it -u admin movensys_manipulator_container \
      bash -lc 'source /opt/ros/${ROS_DISTRO}/setup.bash && source /home/admin/workspaces/movensys_ws/install/setup.bash && exec bash -i'
  else
    docker exec -it -u admin movensys_manipulator_container \
      bash -lc "source /opt/ros/\${ROS_DISTRO}/setup.bash && source /home/admin/workspaces/movensys_ws/install/setup.bash && $*"
  fi
}

Allow the container to reach the host X server and reload the shell:

xhost +local:docker
source ~/.bashrc

2. CycloneDDS network buffers

Raise the kernel socket-buffer limits so the CycloneDDS RMW can carry the joint-state and image traffic without drops:

sudo tee /etc/sysctl.d/99-network-buffers.conf << 'EOF'
net.core.rmem_max=67108864
net.core.rmem_default=67108864
net.core.wmem_max=67108864
net.core.wmem_default=67108864
EOF

sudo sysctl -p /etc/sysctl.d/99-network-buffers.conf
sysctl net.core.rmem_max net.core.rmem_default net.core.wmem_max net.core.wmem_default

3. Clone the repository

mkdir -p ~/workspaces/movensys_ws/src
cd ~/workspaces/movensys_ws/src
git clone git@github.com:movensys/movensys-manipulator.git

4. Build and start the container

Note

For the isaac-ros_* build flavors, complete the Isaac ROS getting-started setup first (the release-3.2 and release-4.1 guides match MOVENSYS_ROS_VERSION=isaac-ros_3.2 / isaac-ros_4.1).

The compose files combine the ROS-version layer with the per-architecture manipulator layer:

cd ${MOVENSYS_MANIPULATOR_PACKAGES}/docker
docker compose -f ${MOVENSYS_ROS_VERSION}.yaml -f movensys_manipulator.${CPU_ARCH}.yaml down
docker compose -f ${MOVENSYS_ROS_VERSION}.yaml -f movensys_manipulator.${CPU_ARCH}.yaml build
docker compose -f ${MOVENSYS_ROS_VERSION}.yaml -f movensys_manipulator.${CPU_ARCH}.yaml up -d

Follow the container startup logs:

docker logs movensys_manipulator_container -f

5. Enter the container

All scenario commands run through mros, which executes inside the movensys_manipulator_container. Open an interactive shell:

mros

Verify the build by launching the robot description in RViz:

mros ros2 launch movensys_manipulator_description movensys_manipulator_rviz.launch.py

For HIL and Real modes, the manipulator is brought up with WMX ROS2 (see wmx-ros2/doc/launch_<MANIPULATOR_MODEL>_manipulator.md and Testing WMX ROS2).

Note

Isaac Sim scenes

The Simulation and HIL modes load USD scenes in NVIDIA Isaac Sim. See NVIDIA Isaac Setup (Optional) for the Isaac Sim installation and the scene layout.