koch_ros

ROS 2 packages for the Koch v1.1 robot arm, a low-cost 6-DOF manipulator with a gripper.

Packages

• koch_description: URDF/Xacro robot description, meshes, and visualization configs
• koch_controllers: Custom ros2_control controllers for the robot

Controllers

LeaderFollowerController

Teleoperation controller that mirrors a leader arm's joint positions to a follower arm.

ros2 launch koch_controllers leader_follower.launch.py

ClawMachineController

Cartesian velocity controller for the follower arm with gripper control:

• Subscribes to /cmd_vel (geometry_msgs/TwistStamped) for end-effector velocity commands
• Subscribes to /grasping (std_msgs/Bool) to open/close the gripper
• Uses inverse kinematics with nullspace optimization to minimize end-effector rotation

ros2 launch koch_controllers claw_machine.launch.py

I made a teleop device using a ESP32-S3 board with a joystick and button to publish the /cmd_vel and /grasping commands. See the picoros_playground.