RTDE Package to create ROS2 topics for the RTDE Field Names selected. by srvald · Pull Request #1707 · UniversalRobots/Universal_Robots_ROS2_Driver

srvald · 2026-03-12T10:10:41Z

Summary

This PR introduces a new ROS 2 package ur_rtde_client that connects to a Universal Robots controller using RTDE and publishes ROS 2 topics for the selected RTDE field names (configured at launch time).

How to execute it

The launch file requires two arguments:

robot_ip: The IP address of the UR controller.
output_recipe: A YAML list of RTDE field names to publish. The list of available field names is documented in the official UR RTDE Documentation.

Example:

ros2 launch ur_rtde_client rtde_client.launch.xml robot_ip:=172.17.0.3 output_recipe:="["payload", "robot_mode"]"

This will create the following topics:

/rtde/payload
/rtde/robot_mode

Package Structure

publisher.*
Loads the YAML mapping (rtde_map.yaml), creates the ROS 2 publishers at runtime, and publishes the fields extracted from the RTDE data package.
rtde_manager.*
Manages the UR RTDE client lifecycle, performs initialization, and spawns a background thread that continuously fetches RTDE data when it is available.
converter.*
Converts UR RTDE field values to the corresponding ROS 2 message types.
rtde_client_node.*
ROS 2 node entrypoint. Reads launch parameters, initializes the publisher + manager, and starts communication.
rtde_map.yaml
Defines how each RTDE variable is mapped to a ROS 2 topic and message type.

… is selected

codecov · 2026-03-12T13:40:53Z

Codecov Report

✅ All modified and coverable lines are covered by tests.
✅ Project coverage is 4.96%. Comparing base (1b121b7) to head (e9569df).
⚠️ Report is 550 commits behind head on main.

Additional details and impacted files

@@           Coverage Diff            @@
##            main   #1707      +/-   ##
========================================
+ Coverage   3.59%   4.96%   +1.37%     
========================================
  Files         13      34      +21     
  Lines        947    3946    +2999     
  Branches     152     472     +320     
========================================
+ Hits          34     196     +162     
- Misses       843    3748    +2905     
+ Partials      70       2      -68

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urfeex

Thank you for that PR! I think, in general the structure is really good.

I see two major things that I would like to improve:

I don't quite understand the necessity of the rtde_client_node. It creates a publisher and a manager and then passes the publisher to the manager. I think, all the logic requiring the publisher should not be in the manager, but in the client node. From my understanding, at this point the manager would only consist of the RTDEClient and would then be obsolete.
We can improve a lot on runtime. In the RTDE processing pipeline we should reduce the following as much as possible:
- memory allocations
- unnecessary data copies
- expensive operations such as std::map::find()

Another feature that I would like to see is passing the publishing frequency as a parameter (Defaulting to 500Hz) that will then be used for the RTDE setup.

Adding a test that we can publish a full recipe with all possible fields would be great.

urfeex · 2026-03-24T09:01:14Z

ur_rtde_client/src/converter.cpp

+{
+std::unique_ptr<geometry_msgs::msg::TwistStamped> Converter::vector6dToTwistStamped(const std::vector<double>& data)
+{
+  if (data.size() != 6 && data.size() != 3) {


That doesn't quite match the name. If it also accepts a 3d vector it should not be called vector6dToTwistStamped

urfeex · 2026-03-24T09:03:04Z

ur_rtde_client/src/converter.cpp

+std::unique_ptr<geometry_msgs::msg::AccelStamped> Converter::vector6dToAccelStamped(const std::vector<double>& data)
+{
+  if (data.size() != 6 && data.size() != 3) {
+    throw std::invalid_argument("vectordToAccelStamped: expected 6 elements");


Same as above. The name suggests that it can only handle 6d vectors. Even worse, in this function sending a vector of size 3 will produce an out-of-bounds access.

urfeex · 2026-03-24T09:05:32Z

ur_rtde_client/src/converter.cpp

+
+  auto msg = std::make_unique<geometry_msgs::msg::InertiaStamped>();
+  msg->header.stamp = rclcpp::Clock().now();
+  msg->header.frame_id = "tool0";


The frame ID comes from the fact that currently, there is only payload_inertia in RTDE. However, the conversion function doesn't necessarily have that context.

urfeex · 2026-03-24T09:06:47Z

ur_rtde_client/src/converter.cpp

+std::unique_ptr<geometry_msgs::msg::WrenchStamped> Converter::vector6dToWrenchStamped(const std::vector<double>& data)
+{
+  if (data.size() != 6 && data.size() != 3) {
+    throw std::invalid_argument("vectordToWrenchStamped: expected 6 elements");


Same as above: Name doesn't match accepting 3 elements, 3 elements cause out-of-bounds read.

urfeex · 2026-03-24T09:10:40Z

ur_rtde_client/src/publisher.cpp

+        vc.name = var_name;
+        vc.rtde_type = rtde_type;
+        vc.output_type = output_type;
+        vc.topic = "/rtde/" + var_name;


Let's use local ROS URIs without a leading /

urfeex · 2026-03-24T10:32:43Z

ur_rtde_client/package.xml

+  <version>0.0.1</version>
+  <description>Standalone RTDE client</description>
+
+  <maintainer email="sergi.romero-valderas@teradyne-robotics.com">Sergi Romero</maintainer>


Suggested change

<maintainer email="sergi.romero-valderas@teradyne-robotics.com">Sergi Romero</maintainer>

<author email="sergi.romero-valderas@teradyne-robotics.com">Sergi Romero</maintainer>

<maintainer email="ros@universal-robots.com">Universal Robots A/S</maintainer>

urfeex · 2026-03-24T10:33:21Z

ur_rtde_client/README.md

@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+# ur_rtde_client
+
+A ROS 2 package providing a real-time RTDE client for Universal Robots manipulators. It reads robot state fields (e.g. robot mode, safety status, timestamps) via UR’s RTDE protocol and publishes them as ROS 2 topics.


I think, a short usage example would be great to add here.

urfeex · 2026-03-24T10:34:32Z

ur_rtde_client/CMakeLists.txt

+install(DIRECTORY include/
+  DESTINATION include


Since we don't provide a library in this package, there is not really a point in installing the headers.

urfeex · 2026-03-24T10:36:40Z

ur_rtde_client/src/publisher.cpp

+  auto it = active_variables_.find(var_name);
+  if (it == active_variables_.end())
+    return;


Finding an entry in a map is a significant time factor. If we can live without it, that would be great.

I think, avoiding the maps altogether but keeping a vector of structs, where each struct contains a

Variable name

Config

Publisher

That would allow to simply iterate over the vector without the requirement for any finds.

urfeex · 2026-03-24T10:43:53Z

ur_rtde_client/src/publisher.cpp

+        throw std::runtime_error("Failed to get VECTOR6D data for " + var_name);
+      }
+
+      std::vector<double> vector_data(array_data.begin(), array_data.end());


I think, it would be good avoiding to copy data here. Hence, the conversion functions could receive a Vector6d already.

New RTDE client package to create topics of each RTDE field name that…

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… is selected

urfeex mentioned this pull request Mar 20, 2026

Publish Payload mass, cog and inertial matrix #1711

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RTDE Package to create ROS2 topics for the RTDE Field Names selected.#1707

RTDE Package to create ROS2 topics for the RTDE Field Names selected.#1707
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	<maintainer email="sergi.romero-valderas@teradyne-robotics.com">Sergi Romero</maintainer>
	<author email="sergi.romero-valderas@teradyne-robotics.com">Sergi Romero</maintainer>
	<maintainer email="ros@universal-robots.com">Universal Robots A/S</maintainer>

		@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
		# ur_rtde_client

		A ROS 2 package providing a real-time RTDE client for Universal Robots manipulators. It reads robot state fields (e.g. robot mode, safety status, timestamps) via UR’s RTDE protocol and publishes them as ROS 2 topics.

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