Hi everyone,

I'm working with the University of Bremen and the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI). We've recently decided to switch from our own data format to using URDF for the kinematic descriptions of our robots.

We already used the 3D modelling software Blender to create our models, exporting them using a bunch of python scripts as we didn't fancy creating models by hand. Building on these scripts, we have started to develop a full-blown add-on for Blender designed for simplifying robot model editing. It's called 'Phobos' and can be found on GitHub: https://github.com/rock-simulation/phobos

I haven't been able to track down anything comparable in the ROS and Gazebo world and figured this might be interesting for some people here. There's an overview in the README file on github and already some documentation explaining the overall concepts and how to get started. We're certainly far from delivering a bug-free "consumer product", but if somebody is interested and finds the time to take a glance, we're very happy for any feedback.

Cheers,

Kai

-- 
 Kai von Szadkowski (M.Sc.)
 Space Robotics

 Universität Bremen
 FB 3 - Mathematik und Informatik
 AG Robotik
 Robert-Hooke-Straße 1
 28359 Bremen, Germany
 
 Zentrale: +49 421 178 45-6611
 
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 28359 Bremen, Germany
 
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 E-Mail:   kai.von-szadkowski@uni-bremen.de

 Weitere Informationen: http://www.informatik.uni-bremen.de/robotik