TM_Cobots_ROS2_Description

📑 TM ROS2 version Jazzy or higher is strictly required to support the TM Robots Series directory structure syntax.

This repository provides essential ROS 2 description files (URDF/Xacro) and 3D meshes for the TM AI Cobot S and TM AI Cobot series. It supports various configurations, including Standard, Standard-X, FT module, and FT-X for robot visualization (RViz), simulation (Gazebo), and motion planning (MoveIt 2).

• Usage Guideline

Additionally, this guide (below) details how to migrate these standalone description packages into a legacy tm2_ros2 workspace.

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1. Quick Reference Table

The repository provides comprehensive coverage for the following model configurations:

	Standard	Standard-X	FT Module	FT-X Module
TM AI Cobot S Series	TM5S	TM5SX	TM5SFT	TM5SXFT
	TM12S	TM12SX	TM12SFT	TM12SXFT
TM AI Cobot Series	TM5-700	TM5X-700	—	—
	TM5-900	TM5X-900	—	—

💡 Note: The Robot Models packages are continuously updated and deployed to this repository.

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2. Migration & Deployment Guide

Integrating Standalone Descriptions into Legacy tm2_ros2 Workspace

This guide explains how to migrate robot description files for the TM AI Cobot S Series (e.g., tm5s) into the legacy tm2_ros2 workspace. The legacy repository only includes the tm12s profile by default. Missing profiles must be retrieved from the standalone TM_Cobots_ROS2_Description repository.

Directory Structure Reference

Your workspace must maintain the exact layout below to prevent dependency failures and path resolution issues:

user_ws/ or tm2_ws/
└── tm2_ros2/
    └── tm_description/
        └── cobot_s/
            ├── tm12s_description/    <-- Default robot description profile in the tm2_ros2 Jazzy (legacy) repo
            └── tm5s_description/     <-- Newly migrated standalone package from TM_Cobots_ROS2_Description repo
                ├── launch/
                ├── meshes/
                ├── rviz/
                ├── xacro/
                ├── CMakeLists.txt
                └── package.xml

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Method A: Automated Deployment (via Script) [Recommended]

Automate the retrieval and deployment process using the workspace loader script.

📖 The Loader Script Usage Guideline

Step 1: Update user_workspace.txt

Edit your configuration file to define the root path of your active ROS 2 workspace:

# ---- Custom Setup (Specify the root directory of your ROS 2 workspace) ----
# Ensure this points to your active tm2_ros2 directory (e.g., assume your active ROS workspace name is tm2_ws)
WS_ROOT=$HOME/tm2_ws

📄 Path Workspace Configuration user_workspace.txt

Step 2: Execute the Loader Script

Run the script (⚡ lite_ld.sh) to download and map the package automatically:

# Grant executable permissions to the deployment script if needed:
chmod +x lite_ld.sh

# Fetch and deploy the target model description package:
./lite_ld.sh tm5s

# Use the force flag (-f) to overwrite existing legacy files if updating:
# ./lite_ld.sh tm12s tm_description -f

🗂️ The Loader Script tm_loader tool

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Method B: Manual Selective Deployment

Use Git sparse-checkout to download and pull only the specific model files you need.

1. Clone and Filter the Repository

# Initialize a partial clone without downloading file blobs
git clone --filter=blob:none --no-checkout https://github.com/TechmanRobotInc/TM_Cobots_ROS2_Description
cd TM_Cobots_ROS2_Description

# Configure the sparse-checkout engine for the target model
git sparse-checkout init --cone
git sparse-checkout set tm_description/cobot_s/tm5s_description

# Pull only the matching files from the main branch
git checkout main

2. Copy the Package to Your Workspace

Ensure the destination directory structure exists, then run the appropriate command for your environment: (For example: ~/tm2_ws/tm2_ros2/tm_description/cobot_s/)

• Case 1: Standard Linux Environment

  cp -r tm_description/cobot_s/tm5s_description ~/tm2_ws/tm2_ros2/tm_description/cobot_s/

• Case 2: Target workspace is located under a mounted D Drive Linux Environment (WSL2 / Linux)

  cp -r /mnt/d/TM_Cobots_ROS2_Description/tm_description/cobot_s/tm5s_description /mnt/d/tm2_ws/tm2_ros2/tm_description/cobot_s/

💡 Tip: Replace tm5s_description with tm7s_description or other target models as required.

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3. Post-Deployment Verification & Compilation

⚠️ Important: If you have previously compiled the workspace or added new application packages, you must purge old build artifacts. Failing to clean the workspace may cause ROS 2 indexing mismatches and compilation errors.

Run the following sequence in your terminal to perform a clean rebuild:

# 1. Source the system ROS 2 environment and set the DDS middleware
source /opt/ros/jazzy/setup.bash
export RMW_IMPLEMENTATION=rmw_cyclonedds_cpp

# 2. Navigate to your workspace root directory
cd ~/tm2_ws

# 3. Purge legacy build, install, and log directories
rm -rf build install log

# 4. Perform a clean workspace build with optimization flags
colcon build --cmake-args -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release

# 5. Source the newly built workspace environment
source ./install/setup.bash