Since version 14 the Commonplace Robotics / igus Robot Control can be extended by apps. This repository contains guides, APIs and examples for creating your own apps.
- Calling app functions in a robot program and passing parameters
- User interface integration into igus Robot Control / CPRog
- Reading and writing program variables
- Reading the robot's current position
- etc.
Note: Since the app interface is very new it still is relatively limited. Further functions will be added in future.
The robot control provides a gRPC interface that allows calling functions and transmitting data between the robot control and the app. With the gRPC protocol file robotcontrolapp.proto you can generate the API for several different programming languages. In this repository you will find classes for C++ and Python that you can use for a quick start.
The app configuration file rcapp.xml is used to register the app at the robot control. It defines the binaries or scripts to execute and the functions that are available to the program editor. The app can also run on a different device, e.g. if more performance is required.
The UI definition file ui.xml defines the user interface that integrates into iRC / CPRog using a simple XML structure. UI events are sent to the app and the app can request value and visibility changes.
All files are packed as a zip file that can be installed via iRC / CPRog.
Warning: Apps can run arbitrary code and can cause damage e.g. to the robot control or the network. Only use apps that you trust and do not connect the robot to the internet or your company network if you can avoid it!
The MinimalApp is our example and API (available in C++ and Python) that you can use as a base for your own app. The class AppClient provides a simple interface for the most common functions. Create a class derived from AppClient and override the methods AppFunctionHandler() and UiUpdateHandler(). The former is called when the robot program calls a function of your app, the latter is called on UI events.
Read main.cpp or app.py and class MinimalApp for examples.
Note: The simple API may not provide functions for all available gRPC calls. You may need to call these yourself. AppClient and the gRPC documentation show how to do this.
The MinimalApp.xml file is a sample robot program that calls the pow function of the sample apps and creates some program variables for the apps to read and write. Observe their values in the variables section below the 3D view.
See the README.md files and the source code comments in the example directories.
The documentation directory contains further explanations.