Understanding Dynamixel ROS Servo controllers for robot hardware interfacing

Till now, we have learned about MoveIt! interfacing using Gazebo simulation. In this section, we will see how to replace Gazebo and put a real robot interface to MoveIt!. Let's discuss the Dynamixel Servos and the ROS controllers.

The Dynamixel Servos

The Dynamixel Servos are smart, high performance networked actuators for high end robotics applications. These servos are manufactured by a Korean company called ROBOTIS (http://en.robotis.com/). These servos are very popular among robotics enthusiasts because they can provide excellent position and torque control, and also provide variety of feedback, such as position, speed, temperature, voltage, and so on.

One of their useful features is that they can be networked as a daisy chain manner. This feature is very useful in multijoint systems such as a robotic arm, humanoid robots, robotic snakes, and such others.

The servos can be directly connected to PCs using a USB...