PickNik’s MoveIt Pro 7.0. | Source: PickNik Robotics
PickNik Inc. last week released MoveIt Pro 7.0, the latest version of its platform for developing robotic arm applications. With this release, the company said it made significant strides in its three core pillars: rapid development, hardware-agnostic design, and intelligent runtime decisions.
Founded in 2015 for the Amazon Picking Challenge, PickNik Robotics has developed software to help organizations improve precision and efficiency in industries ranging from aerospace to construction and logistics. The Boulder, Colo.-based company is also active in the open-source Robot Operating System (ROS) community.
MoveIt Pro 7 to enable rapid development
PickNik said it was able to speed up planning on the MoveIt platform by optimizing several core planning tools. It said PlanCartesianPath and ValidateTrajectory now have faster default settings.
Also, behaviors such as SetupMTCMoveAlongFrameAxis are optimized for quicker Cartesian planning. The RobotModel is also now embedded directly in the BehaviorContext, eliminating loading delays, it said.
In addition to improving core planning tools, PickNik integrated click-to-segment using ONNX models. This means, with the new GetMasks2DFromPointQuery, shown in the “Segment Point Cloud from Clicked Point” example objective, users can segment objects from point clouds using an ONNX-based Segment Anything model.
The latest version of MoveIt Pro includes new and improved behaviors. PickNik said the new AddToolToScene and RemoveToolFromScene simplify tool insertion and removal in a planning environment. GeneratePointToPointTrajectory enables the creation of straight-line joint trajectories, while GetTrajectoryStateAtTime provides precise joint states at specific times.
The updates also include a new Trajectory Stitching feature in the Joint Trajectory Admittance Controller (JTAC). This enables robots to continue executing tasks by stitching new trajectories to ongoing ones without stopping. This can improve task fluidity and reduce downtime, according to PickNik.
The company has also introduced PoseIK, a built-in inverse kinematics solver that it claimed is 10 times faster than existing open-source alternatives. It said, “Robots can now compute solutions at unparalleled speed, empowering you to tackle complex tasks effortlessly.”
PickNik has also updated its user interface. It added unified terminology, clearer labels, and re-ordered ports for better organization. The company said it has enhanced visualization options for global and local cost maps, TRIANGLE_LIST markers, and mesh collision objects.
With MoveIt Pro 7, PickNik has added improved toasts and notifications, with a new “Clear All” button.
The company has revamped its sidebar. The updated interface unifies the Build and Run tabs, allowing users to keep the sidebar open while executing tasks. This enables quicker multitasking and streamlines workflows as users develop and refine new objectives.
PickNik focuses on hardware-agnostic design
The latest version of MoveIt Pro 7 includes expanded pro-RRT support. Pro-RRT now supports robots with continuous joints, enabling motion along the shortest path to target angles.
It also supports two degree-of-freedom (DoF) orientation constraints for precise tool alignment. PickNik said these enhancements further solidify MoveIt Pro’s compatibility with diverse hardware setups.
MoveIt Pro 7 includes improved tool handling. PickNik said the AttachTool behavior has been revamped to require tools in the Planning Scene before attachment. In addition, DetachTool now re-inserts detached tools into the scene automatically for smooth transitions during tool changes.
The updates include compatibility and setup improvements, said PickNik. It deprecated older behaviors in favor of the versatile For Each behavior. It also simplified workspace configurations by moving active files to a single source objectives folder. And PickNik added a guide for MoveIt Pro ML on Jetson Devices, enabling GPU acceleration for Jetson platforms.
A peek inside runtime decisioning improvements
PickNik equipped MoveIt Pro 7 with smarter behaviors for dynamic applications. It has added behaviors such as GetTrajectoryStateAtTime and GeneratePointToPointTrajectory to make runtime adjustments more precise and reliable. Its deprecated behaviors are now marked clearly, with warnings during runtime to help users transition smoothly.
The company also enhanced runtime control on the platform. It said its subtree port remapping improvements prevent unnecessary input/output creation. It enables users to re-retrieve input port values during execution, ensuring updates are accurately registered.
The latest update also includes a number of robust bug fixes. These include:
- Fixed UI layout issues in the Behavior Tree Editor
- Resolved crashes caused by incomplete configurations
- Addressed inefficiencies in the “Run” tab’s CPU usage
- Improved handling of ROS image topics to prevent layout resets
The final improvements to MoveIt Pro 7 surround documentation and onboarding. PickNik said it has expanded its documentation to make it easier to get started and stay productive. This includes updated guides for tool-changing workflows, AprilTag usage, and Nav2 setup, and a new comprehensive guide for running MoveIt Pro without the CLI (command-line interface).
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