URDF PyVista Viewer

A Python library for loading, visualizing, and interacting with URDF (Unified Robot Description Format) files using PyVista for 3D visualization.

Features

• URDF Loading: Parse and load URDF files with full support for links, joints, materials, and geometries
• Interactive 3D Visualization: View URDF models using PyVista with real-time joint manipulation
• Joint Control: Interactive sliders for all actuated joints with proper limit handling
• Link Coloring: Color-code different links for better visualization
• Forward Kinematics: Real-time updates of robot configuration
• Scene Graph Support: Build visual and collision scene graphs
• Mesh Loading: Support for various 3D mesh formats (STL, OBJ, DAE, etc.)

Installation

From pip

pip install --index-url https://test.pypi.org/simple/ --extra-index-url https://pypi.org/simple/ urdf-pyvista

From sources

pip install -e .

Dependencies

• numpy
• trimesh
• pyvista
• lxml
• six

Interactive Controls

When using robot.show(), the viewer provides:

• Mouse Controls:

  • Left-click + drag: Rotate view
  • Right-click + drag: Pan view
  • Scroll wheel: Zoom in/out

• Joint Sliders:

  • Interactive sliders for each actuated joint
  • Real-time updates of robot pose
  • Automatic unit conversion (degrees for revolute joints)
  • Reset button to return to zero configuration

• Keyboard Shortcuts:

  • 'r': Reset all joints to zero position

Supported Joint Types

• revolute: Single-axis rotation with limits
• continuous: Single-axis rotation without limits
• prismatic: Single-axis translation with limits
• fixed: No movement (excluded from controls)
• floating: 6-DOF free movement
• planar: 2-DOF planar movement

File Structure

urdf_pyvista.py     # Main URDF parser and viewer
test_urdf_winder.py # Sample loading test (using cartesian winder machine model URDF sample file)
README.md           # This file
pyproject.toml      # Package configuration

Example

Basic Robot Loading

import urdf_pyvista as up

# Load and display a simple robot
robot = up.URDF.load('winder_machine/winder_machine.urdf')
robot.show(color_by_link=True, sliders=True)

License

This project is provided as-is for educational and research purposes.