RB100 ROS2 Robot Control Board

Overview

RB100 is a ROS2-based robot controller. The main SoC is a Xilinx Zynq MPSoC, with a non-real-time OS Ubuntu, a real-time OS FreeRTOS, and an FPGA running on a single chip, making the controller capable of heterogeneous computing. Communication and control interfaces include 1Gb Ethernet (TCP/IP), 1Gb EtherCAT/CC-Link IE TSN x2, USB3.0, DisplayPort, RS485x4, and general purpose GPIO.

Software Architecture

The software architecture buffers non-real-time data generated by ROS2 applications and communicates with lower-level actuators via real-time communication interfaces such as EtherCAT to enable real-time control as required by actual hardware. The RB100 and small motor drivers enable the development of robots that are compact, low weight, and consume little power. Our customer has successfully developed a 6-axis robot arm that can be mounted on a drone weighing less than 2.5 kg and consuming 24V/2A of power using the RB100 and our motor driver.

Open Architecture

ROS2 is an open platform, allowing anyone to develop their own applications with RB100. EtherCAT is also an open communication platform, so there is a wide range of actuator sensors that can be supported.

High-speed, real-time communication

By implementing EtherCAT on the FPGA side of the SoC, it is possible to achieve a communication cycle of less than 100us and a jitter of less than 50ns for 32 devices, independent of the CPU utilization and timing of the user application. The 6-axis robot we have built for demonstration purposes can be controlled from MoveIT via EtherCAT interface. Gripper and real-time camera are equipped.

Hardware specifications

• Board size and weight: 110 x 160 mm, 195 g
• Main interfaces: 1GB Ethernet x 1, 1GB EtherCAT x 2, Display Port output, USB 3.0 x 1ch, General-purpose GPIO