Adding control to a simulation

One can add control capabilities to any Robot by setting a RobotController via the setController(RobotController aRobotController) method.

1. Create the SimplePendulumController Class

Create a new class in the us.ihmc.exampleSimulations.simplePendulum package called SimplePendulumController that implements us.ihmc.simulationconstructionset.robotController.RobotController.

Your class should look like this:

package us.ihmc.exampleSimulations.simplePendulum;

import us.ihmc.robotics.dataStructures.registry.YoVariableRegistry;
import us.ihmc.robotics.dataStructures.variable.DoubleYoVariable;
import us.ihmc.robotics.robotController.RobotController;

public class SimplePendulumController implements RobotController
{ 
   @Override public void initialize(){}
       
   @Override public void doControl(){}
      
   @Override public YoVariableRegistry getYoVariableRegistry(){}
   
   @Override public String getName(){}
   
   @Override public String getDescription(){}
   
}

  • Interface Implementations

    The RobotController interface requires you to implement:

    • initialize() Not used at this point.
    • doControl() This method gets called each update, that's where your control code is written.
    • getYoVariableRegistry() returns a YoVariableRegistry object that you need to instantiate in the controller. This object will give you access to the control variables.
    • getName() and getDescription() not used at this point.

2. Add properties and create a constructor for SimplePendulumController

We will start by populating the class with the following elements:

3. Add some accessors to the SimplePendulumRobot

In the SimplePendulumRobot class; add the following lines of code so that one can have access to and set fulcrum joint properties:

Above the constructor add some variables to store the current state of the fulcrum joint.


/* Some joint state variables */
   private YoDouble tau_fulcrum, q_fulcrum, qd_fulcrum; // Respectively Torque, Position, Velocity

note Note on naming: By convention, adding a prefix of 'q', 'qd', and 'tau', refers to the joint angle, joint velocity, and joint torque, respectively. E.g. 'q_fulcrum', 'qd_fulcrum', 'tau_fulcrum'.

Add some more lines of code to the constructor to access to the joint's properties:

  
   public SimplePendulumRobot()
   {
      ...
      // Hold references to some properties of this joint using DoubleYoVariables
      q_fulcrum = fulcrumPinJoint.getQYoVariable();
      qd_fulcrum = fulcrumPinJoint.getQDYoVariable();
      tau_fulcrum = fulcrumPinJoint.getTauYoVariable();
   }

Add some accessor methods to the pendulum robot.

Now that we have access to these variables, we can use them in our doControl() method.

4. Link the controller to the robot

In order for the control code to be accessed, it must be set in Simulation Construction Set. Therefore, in the SimplePendulumSimulation class add the following line of code under your robot's instantiation line:

   public SimplePendulumSimulation()
   {
      SimplePendulumRobot robot = new SimplePendulumRobot();
      robot.setController(new SimplePendulumController(robot)); // Add this line
    
    ...

Full code for the class:

Simple Pendulum Controller

Simple Pendulum Robot

Simple Pendulum Simulation

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