myCobot Pro 450 Isaac Sim

Isaac Sim is a robotics simulation platform provided by NVIDIA, designed for building high-fidelity physical environments and robot models.

mycobot450_isaacsim is a repository dedicated to the collaborative control of the myCobot Pro 450—spanning both simulation and real-world robotics—built upon the following technologies:

• NVIDIA Isaac Sim (Simulation)
• ROS 2 Humble (Communication Middleware)
• MoveIt 2 (Motion Planning)

This project aims to establish a complete pipeline connecting "Simulation → ROS 2 → Real Robot," enabling the following capabilities:

• Joint control and state synchronization within the simulation environment
• Coordinated control between Isaac Sim and the physical Pro 450 robot
• Multiple interaction methods (Sliders / GUI / Keyboard / MoveIt 2)
• An integrated workflow ranging from basic control to advanced motion planning

1 Project Scope

This repository is not merely a standalone functional package, but rather a system-level integration example suitable for:

• Robotics simulation and validation (Isaac Sim)
• Development of ROS 2 control pipelines
• Testing of MoveIt 2 planning and execution
• Sim-to-Real synchronization

2 Technology Stack Overview

• Isaac Sim: Used for physics simulation and rendering
• ROS 2: Responsible for message communication (JointState / Control Commands)
• MoveIt 2: Used for path planning and execution

3 Quick start

If this is your first time with the repo, follow this order:

1. Install ROS 2 Humble and Isaac Sim 4.5.0
2. Create a ROS 2 workspace and clone this repository
3. colcon build all packages
4. Start Isaac Sim 4.5.0
5. Open the USD scene from the repo
6. Click Play in Isaac Sim
7. Start basic control nodes or MoveIt 2 as needed

Minimal example:

mkdir -p ~/pro450_isaacsim_ws/src
cd ~/pro450_isaacsim_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/elephantrobotics/mycobot450_isaacsim.git

cd ~/pro450_isaacsim_ws
source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash
colcon build
source install/setup.bash

4 Prerequisites

Before using the examples, confirm the following:

• Hardware

  • MyCobot Pro 450 arm
  • Ethernet cable (robot to Host)
  • Power supply
  • Emergency stop (for safe operation)

• Software and environment

  • System: Ubuntu 22.04
  • GPU: NVIDIA dedicated graphics card recommended (The verification environment for this project was an RTX 3080 with 10GB of VRAM).
  • Python 3.10 or higher installed.
  • ROS2 Humble installed.
  • NVIDIA Isaac Sim 4.5.0 or higher installed. Reference: Isaac Sim Download and Installation
  • pymycobot library installed (Version must be greater than 4.0.1; install via the terminal command pip install pymycobot).
  • Ensure that the MyCobot Pro 450 is properly connected to a power source and is in standby mode.
  • Note: The Pro 450 server automatically starts upon device power-up; no manual intervention is required.

• Network Configuration

  • MyCobot Pro 450 Default IP Address: 192.168.0.232
  • Default Port Number: 4500

  • Note: Set the host NIC to the same subnet (e.g. 192.168.0.xxx where xxx is 2–254 and not in conflict with the robot).

  • Example:

    • Robot IP: 192.168.0.232
    • Host IP: 192.168.0.100
    • Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
    • DNS: 114.114.114.114

  • Check: After configuration, from the host run:

    ping 192.168.0.232
    

    If replies return, the link is OK.

5 Install and build

This repo is ROS 2 workspace source, not a standalone binary. Clone into a workspace, build, then use ros2 run / ros2 launch.

Suggested layout:

~/pro450_isaacsim_ws/
├── src/
│   └── mycobot450_isaacsim/
├── build/
├── install/
└── log/

Create and build (open a terminal with Ctrl+Alt+T):

mkdir -p ~/pro450_isaacsim_ws/src
cd ~/pro450_isaacsim_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/elephantrobotics/mycobot450_isaacsim.git

cd ~/pro450_isaacsim_ws
source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash
colcon build
source install/setup.bash

Build selected packages only:

cd ~/pro450_isaacsim_ws
source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash
colcon build --packages-select pro450_isaacsim
colcon build --packages-select pro450_isaac_moveit2 pro450_isaac_moveit2_control
source install/setup.bash

6 Package overview

This section provides a brief overview of the various packages within the mycobot450_isaacsim repository.

mycobot_description

ROS 2 description for Pro450:

• URDF model
• Mesh assets
• Robot description for robot_state_publisher, MoveIt 2, and Isaac Sim import

Key file:

• mycobot_description/urdf/mycobot_pro_450/mycobot_pro_450.urdf

pro450_isaacsim

Isaac Sim basics:

• Joint sliders: slider_control.py
• Follow display: follow_display.py
• GUI: simple_gui.py
• Keyboard: teleop_keyboard.py, teleop_keyboard.launch.py

Typical commands:

• ros2 run pro450_isaacsim slider_control
• ros2 run pro450_isaacsim follow_display
• ros2 run pro450_isaacsim simple_gui
• ros2 run pro450_isaacsim teleop_keyboard
• ros2 launch pro450_isaacsim teleop_keyboard.launch.py

pro450_isaac_moveit2

MoveIt 2 configuration:

• SRDF / kinematics / joint limits / controllers
• move_group
• robot_state_publisher
• RViz launch
• Isaac-focused entry: isaac_moveit.launch.py

pro450_isaac_moveit2_control

MoveIt 2 execution bridge:

• isaac_sync_plan.py

Converts MoveIt FollowJointTrajectory execution into what Isaac accepts:

• /joint_command
• sensor_msgs/msg/JointState

Optional sync to the real Pro450.

7 Start Isaac Sim and open the USD scene

Isaac Sim install path

Example install path:

/home/er/.local/share/ov/pkg/isaac_sim-4.5.0

Use your actual install location.

Launch Isaac Sim

Use your real install directory.

From the install folder, use the official script:

cd /home/er/.local/share/ov/pkg/isaac_sim-4.5.0
./isaac-sim.sh

Note: First launch can take a long time (~3 minutes) while the renderer and core modules initialize. If you see a dialog like:

do not force quit; wait. When Isaac Sim is ready you should see GPU info, for example:

Terminal log should include:

Isaac Sim Full App is loaded

If ROS 2 is sourced in your shell, you can run before Isaac Sim:

source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash

Open the USD file

Recommended: open the bundled USD:

pro450_isaacsim/pro450_isaacsim/usd/mycobot_pro_450.usd

If the repo is at:

~/pro450_isaacsim_ws/src/mycobot450_isaacsim

a typical full path is:

~/pro450_isaacsim_ws/src/mycobot450_isaacsim/pro450_isaacsim/pro450_isaacsim/usd/mycobot_pro_450.usd

In Isaac Sim:

1. Start ./isaac-sim.sh
2. File -> Open
3. Open mycobot_pro_450.usd
4. Wait for the stage to load
5. Click Play

Demo:

8 Isaac Sim configuration

Importing the model

Two approaches:

1. Re-import the URDF from mycobot_description into Isaac Sim and tune your own USD (set per-joint Max Force, Damping, Stiffness).
2. Open the pre-authored USD: pro450_isaacsim/pro450_isaacsim/usd/mycobot_pro_450.usd.

For quick ROS 2 / MoveIt 2 / hardware checks, prefer the bundled USD.

Action Graph (recommended)

Include at least:

• ROS2 Context
• On Playback Tick
• Isaac Read Simulation Time
• ROS2 Publish Joint State
• ROS2 Subscribe Joint State
• Articulation Controller
• Optional: ROS2 Publish Clock

Suggested topics:

• Publish sim joint state: /joint_states
• Receive joint commands: /joint_command
• Optional clock: /clock

Important prim paths

Easy to misconfigure.

ROS2 Publish Joint State

Point to a prim that exposes joint state, e.g.:

• /mycobot_pro450/base

Articulation Controller

Point to the articulation root, not a child link, e.g.:

• /mycobot_pro450/base

If wrong, you may see:

• Pattern '/mycobot_pro450' did not match any rigid bodies
• Provided pattern list did not match any articulations
• NoneType object has no attribute link_names

Physics Inspector

• After loading the USD: Tools -> Physics -> Physics Inspector

  

• In the panel, click the arrow tool

  

• In the dialog, choose Articulation

  

• You can drag joints to move the articulation:

  

• Close Physics Inspector:

  

Physics Inspector and Articulation Controller both drive the same articulation.

Therefore:

• Publishing only joint_states: Inspector dragging is usually fine.
• ROS control via Subscribe + Articulation Controller: close Inspector to avoid conflicts.

Otherwise you may get:

• Simulation view object is invalidated and cannot be used again
• Articulation Controller errors
• Competing control on the articulation

9 Basic features

Note: All examples assume the USD scene is already open in Isaac Sim. Path: mycobot450_isaacsim/pro450_isaacsim/pro450_isaacsim/usd/mycobot_pro_450.usd

1. Slider follow control

• After loading the USD, open Physics Inspector
• Click Play in Isaac Sim
• Syncs Isaac / ROS joint state to the robot. In a terminal:

ros2 run pro450_isaacsim slider_control --ros-args -p ip:=192.168.0.232 -p port:=4500

When running, dragging joints in Inspector moves both sim and hardware.

Important: when the command starts, the arm moves toward the current Isaac pose. Ensure the Isaac model is not intersecting geometry before starting.

Do not snap sliders quickly while connected to the real arm — risk of damage.

Notes:

• The node subscribes joint state and calls send_angles
• Suited to simple joint dragging

2. Model follow display

Let the sim model follow the real arm.

• Load the USD (close Physics Inspector)
• Click Play
• Publishes real joint angles toward Isaac. Run:

ros2 run pro450_isaacsim follow_display --ros-args -p ip:=192.168.0.232 -p port:=4500

Per terminal instructions, hold the end-effector button and drag joints on the robot; Isaac follows.

3. GUI control

Simple GUI on top of the same stack.

• Load the USD (close Physics Inspector)
• Click Play
• Run:

ros2 run pro450_isaacsim simple_gui --ros-args -p ip:=192.168.0.232 -p port:=4500

Enter angles / coordinates and use the buttons to sync robot and sim.

Notes:

• Angle mode publishes target joint angles directly to Isaac
• Coordinate mode sends the real robot first, then syncs Isaac from reported angles
• Short polling + GUI refresh resend improves coordinate sync

4. Keyboard teleop

Keyboard control in pro450_isaacsim, synced in Isaac Sim. Uses the Python API — connect the real arm.

• Load the USD (close Physics Inspector)
• Click Play
• Run:

ros2 launch pro450_isaacsim teleop_keyboard.launch.py ip:=192.168.0.232 port:=4500

A new terminal opens with output similar to:

Mycobot Teleop Keyboard Controller
---------------------------
Movimg options(control coordinations [x,y,z,rx,ry,rz]):
              w(x+)

    a(y-)     s(x-)     d(y+)

    z(z-) x(z+)

u(rx+)   i(ry+)   o(rz+)
j(rx-)   k(ry-)   l(rz-)

+/- : Increase/decrease movement step size

Other:
    1 - Go to init pose
    2 - Go to home pose
    3 - Resave home pose
    q - Quit

Use that terminal for interactive keys.

Note: press 2 so the arm goes home before Cartesian control. Example logs:

[WARN] [1758001794.385321]: Coordinate control disabled. Please press '2' first.
[INFO] [1758001804.552778]: Home pose reached. Coordinate control enabled.
[INFO] [1758001817.069637]: Home pose reached. Coordinate control enabled.
[WARN] [1758001836.301070]: Returned to zero. Press '2' to enable coordinate control.
[WARN] [1758001848.830702]: Coordinate control disabled. Please press '2' first.
[INFO] [1758001863.383565]: Home pose reached. Coordinate control enabled.
[WARN] [1758001933.596504]: Returned to zero. Press '2' to enable coordinate control.
[WARN] [1758001942.051899]: Coordinate control disabled. Please press '2' first.

Notes:

• The keyboard node talks to Pro450 directly
• send_angles updates Isaac immediately
• send_coords depends on reported angles to sync Isaac
• Launch uses x-terminal-emulator -e to avoid termios TTY errors

10 MoveIt 2 with Isaac Sim

Launch Program

• Load the USD (close Physics Inspector)
• Click Play in Isaac Sim
• Start MoveIt RViz:

ros2 launch pro450_isaac_moveit2 isaac_moveit.launch.py

Planning in MoveIt moves the Isaac model.

To also drive the real arm during execution, in another terminal:

ros2 run pro450_isaac_moveit2_control isaac_sync_plan --ros-args -p ip:=192.168.0.232 -p port:=4500

Then Execute in MoveIt moves both Isaac and hardware.

Details

isaac_moveit.launch.py starts:

• rsp.launch.py
• static_virtual_joint_tfs.launch.py
• move_group.launch.py
• moveit_rviz.launch.py

isaac_sync_plan.py bridges:

• /arm_group_controller/follow_joint_trajectory

to:

• /joint_command

and optionally to the real robot.

11 Recommended workflows

A: Isaac sim + ROS 2 only

1. Import Pro450 and configure the Action Graph in Isaac Sim
2. Click Play
3. Verify /joint_states
4. Use ros2 topic pub or your own node to send JointState on /joint_command

B: Hardware + Isaac basics

1. Configure /joint_command in Isaac Sim
2. Run teleop_keyboard or simple_gui
3. Commands execute on hardware
4. Mirror to Isaac via /joint_command

C: MoveIt 2 + Isaac + hardware

1. Play in Isaac Sim
2. isaac_moveit.launch.py
3. Plan in RViz
4. Execute
5. isaac_sync_plan.py converts the trajectory to /joint_command
6. Isaac runs; optional hardware sync

12 FAQ

1. No data on /joint_command

Expected. ROS2 Subscribe Joint State is a subscriber; it does not publish.
You need a node that publishes to /joint_command.

2. Sim arm still; /joint_states OK

Check:

• Articulation Controller targetPrim → articulation root
• Something actually publishes /joint_command
• Physics Inspector open and fighting the controller

3. MoveIt plans OK but Execute does not move Isaac

Check:

• You launched isaac_moveit.launch.py
• isaac_sync_plan.py is running
• Isaac is still in Play
• /joint_command receives the bridged JointState

4. Keyboard: termios.error: (25, 'Inappropriate ioctl for device')

Cause: not a real interactive TTY.

Fix:

• Use teleop_keyboard.launch.py from this repo
• Or ros2 run pro450_isaacsim teleop_keyboard in a normal terminal

5. Lag between hardware and Isaac

Common causes:

• send_coords does not carry direct joint targets
• Sync waits on reported angles
• Different control paths for robot vs Isaac

This repo improves GUI coordinate mode with:

• Short polling of hardware angles
• Resend on GUI refresh

For tighter trajectory sync, consider:

• Higher-rate angle sampling
• Interpolated trajectories
• IK then direct Isaac joint targets

13 Notes

• Prefer consistent topics for Isaac control:
  • /joint_states
  • /joint_command
  • optional /clock
• If multiple workspaces install the same package names, watch source install/setup.bash order so get_package_share_directory() does not resolve the wrong underlay.