Publishing the current state of the robot (Topic)

Publish robot state information to the /gbt_driver/feedback_states Topic. Includes connection status of the robotic arm, robot status, controller status, servo status, robotic arm soft mode status, robotic arm joint status, end-effector pose, robot alarm codes, and speed percentage. Subscribe to this topic to obtain real-time status information of the robotic arm.

Supported Robot Connections

This driver supports three types of robot connections:

1. Real Robot - Physical robot connected via network IP (default: 10.27.1.254 )
2. Virtual Controller - Simulated robot for testing (uses same default IP as real robot)
3. AirBot Cloud Robot - Remote robot accessed through AirBot cloud service (requires registration)

Message Structure

gbt_interface/msg/FeedbackState.msg

The following is the message structure for robotic arm status information:

std_msgs/Header header

# Connection Status
bool is_connected                            # Whether connected to the robot

# Robot Status
string robot_type                            # Robot type
RobotStatus robot_status                     # Robot Status
ControllerStatus controller_status           # Controller Status
ServoStatus servo_status                     # Servo Status
ArmSoftModeStatus arm_soft_mode_status       # Arm Soft Mode Status

# Robot joint 
sensor_msgs/JointState joint_states          # Robot joint states
geometry_msgs/PoseStamped flange_pose        # Robot flange pose
geometry_msgs/PoseStamped tool_pose          # Robot tool pose

# alarm code 
AlarmCode[]   alarm_code_list                # Robot alarm code

float32 overall_speed                        # Overall speed (%)


# IO
IOType[] io                                  # TODO: IO status

bool is_error                                # TODO: implement error detection
uint8 error_code                             # TODO: assign proper error codes on failures


# coordinate system
int32 actived_uf_id                          # Activated user coordinate system ID
int32 actived_tf_id                          # Activated tool coordinate system ID

Known Limitation (IO)

• The io field in /gbt_driver/feedback_states is not published by default.
• The SDK currently supports batch reads for DO only; other IO types do not support batch read.
• For IO read access, use per-port service calls via /gbt_driver/service_server/io .

User Guide

Configure Robot Connection

Modify the robot connection in the gbt_driver/config/robot_config.yaml configuration file.

For Real Robot / Virtual Controller

Both real robot and virtual controller use the same default IP address:

robot_ip_address: "10.27.1.254"  # Default IP for real robot and virtual controller

The system will automatically connect to the virtual controller if the real robot is unavailable at this IP.

For AirBot Cloud Robot

Access remote robots through the AirBot cloud service:

1. Visit http://airbot.sh-agilebot.com/ to register and apply for a cloud robot
2. After registration, you will receive an assigned robot IP address
3. Configure your assigned cloud robot address:

robot_ip_address: "YOUR_ASSIGNED_IP"  # Replace with your assigned AirBot cloud robot IP

Start ROS2 Driver Node

Launch the gbt_driver node in the terminal:

source install/setup.bash
ros2 launch gbt_driver gbt_feedback.launch.py

Obtain Robotic Arm Status Information

After starting the gbt_driver node, the driver will automatically connect to the robotic arm and begin publishing status information to the following Topic:

• /gbt_driver/feedback_states

By subscribing to this topic, you can obtain the following information:

• Robotic arm connection status
• Robot status
• Controller status
• Servo status
• Robotic arm soft mode status
• Robotic arm joint status
• End-effector pose
• Robot alarm codes
• Speed percentage
• UF coordinate system ID
• TF coordinate system ID

For example, you can use the following command to view the robotic arm's status information:

source install/setup.bash
ros2 topic echo /gbt_driver/feedback_states