boelnasr/ManipulaPy: V1.3.0

[1.3.0] - 2026-01-05 Summary: This release introduces a comprehensive native URDF parser with NumPy 2.0+ compatibility, enhanced URDF processor backbone, improved robot data organization, and comprehensive documentation. The native parser provides zero external URDF dependencies, batch forward kinematics (50x+ speedup), multi-robot scene management, and programmatic URDF modification for calibration and payload simulation. The ManipulaPy_data folder has been cleaned up with automated validation ensuring all 25 robot models are accessible and parseable. Impact: ✅ NumPy 2.0+ compatible URDF parsing (no urchin dependency required) ✅ Batch FK: 50x+ faster than individual calls for trajectory analysis ✅ Multi-robot scenes: Manage multiple robots in shared workspace ✅ URDF modification: Programmatic calibration and payload simulation ✅ Enhanced URDFToSerialManipulator with new convenience methods ✅ PyBullet now optional for urdf_processor (graceful degradation) ✅ Cleaned robot data folder (6.7 MB space saved) ✅ Comprehensive robot catalog documentation (382-line MANIFEST.md) ✅ Automated validation for all 25 robots ✅ Clear separation of production URDFs vs source packages Added Native URDF Parser (ManipulaPy/urdf/) Core parser (core.py, parser.py, types.py): Complete URDF parsing with NumPy 2.0+ support Batch FK (link_fk_batch()): Vectorized forward kinematics, 50x+ faster for multiple configurations Multi-robot scenes (scene.py): Scene class for managing multiple robots with world-frame transforms URDF modifiers (modifiers.py): URDFModifier class for calibration offsets, payload simulation, mass scaling Package resolver (resolver.py): Resolve package:// URIs from ROS packages Validation (validation.py): validate_urdf() for structure validation with cycle/multi-root detection Xacro support (xacro.py): Automatic macro expansion for .xacro files Geometry handling (geometry/): Primitives (Box, Cylinder, Sphere) and mesh loading (STL, OBJ, DAE) Visualization (visualization/): Trimesh and PyBullet visualization backends (lazy-loaded) All URDF joint types supported: revolute, continuous, prismatic, fixed, planar, floating Mimic joints with automatic master-slave coupling Transmission and actuator parsing Enhanced URDFToSerialManipulator (urdf_processor.py) New forward_kinematics() method for direct FK computation New link_fk() method for all-link transforms via native parser New batch_forward_kinematics() for vectorized FK (50x+ speedup) New get_end_effector_transforms() convenience method New jacobian() method for Jacobian computation New inverse_kinematics() with "robust", "smart", "iterative" methods New get_transform() for transforms between arbitrary frames New create_modifier() for URDF calibration/payload modification New validate() method for URDF structure validation Properties: num_dofs, joint_names, link_names, end_effector_name, joint_limits_array __repr__() for informative string representation Convenience functions (urdf_processor.py) load_robot(): Quick robot loading from URDF create_multi_robot_scene(): Create Scene for multi-robot management Documentation ManipulaPy/urdf/README.md: Comprehensive URDF parser documentation ManipulaPy/urdf/TROUBLESHOOTING.md: 8-section troubleshooting guide Examples/notebooks/urdf_parser_tutorial.ipynb: Interactive Jupyter notebook tutorial Examples/intermediate_examples/urdf_calibration_example.py: Robot calibration workflows Examples/intermediate_examples/urdf_payload_simulation_example.py: Payload simulation examples urdf_parser_plan.md: Implementation status and architecture documentation Robot Data Validation (scripts/validate_manipulapy_data.py) Automated validation script for all robots in database Checks URDF file accessibility and parseability Optional mesh loading validation Database statistics reporting CI/CD integration ready with exit codes Usage: python scripts/validate_manipulapy_data.py [--check-meshes] [--stats-only] Comprehensive Robot Catalog Documentation MANIFEST.md (382 lines): Complete robot catalog with specifications Directory structure explanation (Production vs Source packages) All 25 robots documented with DOF, payload, reach specs Usage examples for common workflows Mesh path resolution guide Troubleshooting section for common issues Best practices for loading and using robots MANIPULAPY_DATA_STATUS.md: Detailed analysis and recommendations MANIPULAPY_DATA_CLEANUP_SUMMARY.md: Complete cleanup summary IMPLEMENTATION_STATUS.md: Unified implementation status tracker Changed URDF Processor improvements (urdf_processor.py) PyBullet now optional - graceful degradation if not installed Default use_pybullet_limits=False (use URDF limits directly) New load_meshes parameter for optional mesh loading New validate parameter for optional URDF validation Better type hints with Union[str, Path] for file paths Improved docstrings with usage examples Package initialization (__init__.py) Updated urdf_processor to not require simulation features URDF module exports updated with new classes ManipulaPy_data Organization Removed duplicate ur5/ folder (6.7 MB) - using universal_robots/ur5/ instead Removed empty ur/ folder (12 KB) Reorganized documentation to clearly separate production URDFs from source packages Updated folder structure to be more intuitive and consistent Total size reduced from ~150 MB to ~143 MB Robot Database (ManipulaPy_data/__init__.py) All 25 robots verified and accessible Clean API: get_robot_urdf(), list_robots(), get_robot_info() Manufacturer and DOF filtering functions Backward compatibility maintained Fixed PyBullet optional dependency - urdf_processor.py no longer crashes if PyBullet not installed Joint limit extraction - Now handles prismatic joints in PyBullet limit extraction Memory management - Added try/finally for PyBullet disconnect in _get_joint_limits_from_pybullet() Data Organization Issues Removed confusing duplicate folders Clarified purpose of *_description source packages Fixed inconsistent folder hierarchy Validation Results ✅ All 25 robots accessible via database API ✅ All 25 robots parse successfully with native URDF parser ✅ 8 manufacturers, 68 URDF/xacro files validated ✅ DOF distribution: 2 (1-DOF), 18 (6-DOF), 5 (7-DOF) Statistics | Metric | Value | |--------|-------| | Total Robots | 25 models | | Manufacturers | 8 (Universal Robots, Fanuc, KUKA, Kinova, Franka, UFactory, Robotiq, ABB) | | URDF Files | 68 files | | Total Size | ~143 MB | | Space Saved | 6.7 MB | | Documentation | 4 new comprehensive guides | Dependencies Required: numpy>=1.19.2 (including NumPy 2.0+) Optional (lazy-loaded): trimesh - Mesh loading and visualization pybullet - Alternative backend and visualization scipy - Rotation utilities pyyaml - YAML calibration files