An approach for automatic generation of the URDF file of modular robots from modules designed using SolidWorks

Modular robot manipulators promise to enhance current automation practice by providing higher flexibility and quick recovery in case of failures with respect to fixed-structure robots. The configuration of the modular robot control for each new assembly, to account for the new system kinematics and dynamics, can be time consuming and requires robot modelling expertise. We propose an approach for automatically generating the Unified Robot Description Format (URDF) file of modular robot manipulators, starting from the kinematic and dynamic descriptions expressed following the URDF of the single modules they can be composed of. The approach has been implemented and numerically verified by exploiting off-the-shelf software tools from Robot Operating System (ROS) libraries.