Franka Control Interface Documentation

Note

The software and its documentation support two different robots, the Franka Research 3 (FR3) and an older Franka Robotics Robot (FER or Panda).

The Franka Control Interface (FCI) can be accessed via several open source components which we provide on GitHub. We welcome contributions and suggestions for improvements.

These components are:

• libfranka, a C++ library that provides low-level control of Franka Robotics research robots. Its source code is available at https://github.com/frankaemika/libfranka. API documentation is available at https://frankaemika.github.io/libfranka.

• franka_ros, our ROS integration, including support for ROS Control and MoveIt!. It also contains franka_description, a collection of URDF models and 3D meshes that can be useful outside of ROS. The repository is available at https://github.com/frankaemika/franka_ros.

• franka_ros2 The repository is available at https://github.com/frankaemika/franka_ros2.

• Franka MATLAB® provides a Simulink and a Matlab API, together with helper functions and tools, for rapid-prototyping in Real-Time on the Franka Robot” Franka MATLAB® artifacts can be obtained at Franka World.

The source code of this documentation is also available online.

Important

Before you start using the FCI, please read through the documents shipped with the robot and the Minimum system and network requirements chapter.

Note

Using a robot with system version 4.2.0 or higher requires to enable the FCI mode. To do that open Desk -> expand the menu in the sidebar -> press ‘Activate FCI’. Further information about Single Point of Control (SPoC) can be found in the manual shipped with the robot.

Contents:

• Overview
• Minimum system and network requirements
  • Workstation PC
  • Network
• Compatible versions
  • Compatibility with libfranka
  • Compatibility with the kernel
• Installation on Linux
  • Installing from the ROS repositories
  • Building from source
  • Setting up the real-time kernel
• Getting started
  • Operating the robot
  • Installing the FCI Feature
  • Setting up the network
  • Preparing the robot for FCI usage in Desk
  • Verifying the connection
• libfranka
  • Non-realtime commands
  • Realtime commands
  • Robot state
  • Model library
  • Errors
• franka_ros
  • franka_description
  • franka_gripper
  • franka_hw
  • franka_control
  • franka_visualization
  • franka_example_controllers
  • franka_gazebo
  • franka_msgs
  • panda_moveit_config
  • Writing your own controller
• franka_ros2
  • Installation
  • MoveIt
  • Example Controllers
  • Package Descriptions
  • Differences between franka_ros and franka_ros2
  • Non-realtime robot parameter setting
  • Non-realtime ROS 2 actions
  • Known Issues
• Franka Toolbox for MATLAB
  • Compatible versions
  • System Requirements
  • Installation
  • Getting started
  • Fanka Library for Simulink - Reference
  • Franka Library for MATLAB - Reference
  • Troubleshooting
• Franka Toolbox for MATLAB changelog
  • 2.0.0 (20-11-2024)
  • 1.0.0 (11-03-2024)
  • 0.3.1 (23-03-2023)
  • 0.3.0 (20-09-2022)
  • 0.2.1 (29-04-2022)
  • 0.2.0 (31-05-2021)
  • 0.1.1 (01-07-2020)
  • 0.1.0 (21-01-2020)
• Robot and interface specifications
  • Joint trajectory requirements
  • Cartesian trajectory requirements
  • Controller requirements
  • Limits for Panda
  • Limits for Franka Research 3
  • Denavit–Hartenberg parameters
• FR3 certification remarks
• Troubleshooting
  • Cannot boot realtime kernel because of “Invalid Signature”
  • Running a libfranka executable fails with “Connection timeout”
  • Motion stopped due to discontinuities or communication_constraints_violation
  • Robot is not reachable
  • Running a libfranka executable fails with “UDP receive: Timeout”
  • Network bandwidth, delay and jitter test
  • Running a libfranka executable fails with “Incompatible Library Version”
  • Running a libfranka executable fails with “command rejected due to activated safety function!” or “command preempted due to activated safety function!”
• FAQ