Migrating robots from ROS 1 to ROS 2 is usually a headache of XML editing and syntax checking.
In this video, I demonstrate how ππ’π§π€π π¨π«π π solves this in minute using the ππ-πππ100.
The Workflow: Import: Load legacy ROS 1 URDFs directly into Blender with LinkForge. Interact: Click links and joints to visualize properties instantly. Modernize: Auto-generate ros2_control interfaces from existing joints with one click. Export: Output a clean, fully compliant ROS 2 URDF ready for Jazzy.
LinkForge handles the inertia matrices, geometry offsets, and tag upgrades automatically.
But URDFs are not tightly coupled to a ROS version right? Weβve done quite some migrations, but in my experience the myrobot_description packages only required modifications in the launchfiles and package.xml. The urdfs could stay as-is.
Youβre absolutely right. The core geometry (links/joints) is largely version-agnostic. If you just need visualization in RViz, the old URDFs often work fine!
The βheadacheβ Iβm referring to is usually the Control and Physics layers:
ros2_control Tags: Moving from ROS 1 <transmission> tags to the verbose <ros2_control> interfaces (position/velocity/effort) is tedious to hand-write for complex robots.
Physics Strictness: Modern simulators (like Gazebo) are much stricter about valid inertia tensors. LinkForge prevents βexploding robotβ issues by validating this math before export.
LinkForge just automates that specific layer so you donβt have to debug XML syntax during the migration.
Import: Load legacy ROS 1 URDFs directly into Blender with LinkForge.
Interact: Click links and joints to visualize properties instantly.
Modernize: Auto-generate ros2_control interfaces from existing joints with one click.
Export: Output a clean, fully compliant ROS 2 URDF ready for Jazzy.