Using URDF Files in Vuer

Overview

Vuer enables loading URDF (Unified Robot Description Format) files for robotics visualization. The framework supports mesh files in .dae, .stl, .obj, and .ply formats.

Basic Implementation

The code example demonstrates loading URDF models:

from asyncio import sleep
from vuer import Vuer, VuerSession
from vuer.schemas import Urdf

app = Vuer()

@app.spawn(start=True)
async def main(proxy: VuerSession):
    proxy.upsert @ Urdf(
        src="https://docs.vuer.ai/en/latest/_static/perseverance/rover/m2020.urdf",
        jointValues={},
        rotation=[3.14 / 2, 0, 0],
        position=[0, 0, -1.5],
        key="perseverance",
    )

    # Keep the session alive
    while True:
        await sleep(1.0)

app.run()

Key Parameters

src

URL path to the URDF file. Can be a local path or remote URL.

jointValues

Dictionary for joint configuration. Use empty {} for default joint positions.

Example with joint values:

jointValues={
    "joint_1": 0.5,
    "joint_2": -0.3,
    "knee_joint": 1.2,
}

rotation

Euler angles [x, y, z] for model orientation in radians.

position

3D coordinates [x, y, z] for model placement.

key

Unique identifier for the model. Used for updates and removal.

Supported Mesh Formats

Vuer supports URDF files with mesh files in the following formats:

.dae (COLLADA)
.stl (STereoLithography)
.obj (Wavefront OBJ)
.ply (Polygon File Format)

Complete Example with Multiple Robots

from asyncio import sleep
from vuer import Vuer, VuerSession
from vuer.schemas import Urdf, Scene, AmbientLight

app = Vuer()

@app.spawn(start=True)
async def main(session: VuerSession):
    session.set @ Scene(
        # Add lighting
        AmbientLight(intensity=1.0),

        # Load first robot
        Urdf(
            src="/static/robots/robot1.urdf",
            position=[0, 0, 0],
            rotation=[0, 0, 0],
            key="robot-1",
        ),

        # Load second robot
        Urdf(
            src="/static/robots/robot2.urdf",
            position=[2, 0, 0],
            rotation=[0, 0, 0],
            key="robot-2",
        ),
    )

    # Keep the session alive
    while True:
        await sleep(1.0)

app.run()

Serving Local URDF Files

To serve URDF files from your local filesystem:

from vuer import Vuer

# Point to the directory containing your URDF files
app = Vuer(static_root="path/to/urdf/directory")

@app.spawn(start=True)
async def main(session):
    session.upsert @ Urdf(
        src="/static/my_robot.urdf",  # Relative to static_root
        position=[0, 0, 0],
        key="my-robot",
    )

    while True:
        await sleep(1.0)

app.run()

Source

Documentation: https://docs.vuer.ai/en/latest/tutorials/robotics/urdf.html

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