ur controller bringup script misleading stderr output

[Robert-Jia00129]

Affected ROS2 Driver version(s)

5.0.0

Used ROS distribution.

Jazzy

Which combination of platform is the ROS driver running on.

Ubuntu Linux with standard kernel

How is the UR ROS2 Driver installed.

From binary packets

Which robot platform is the driver connected to.

UR E-series robot

Robot SW / URSim version(s)

How is the ROS driver used.

Through the robot teach pendant using External Control URCap

Issue details

ros2 launch ur_robot_driver ur_control.launch.py   ur_type:=ur5e   robot_ip:=192.168.100.3   reverse_ip:=192.168.100.77   launch_rviz:=true

UR control launch does not launch the robot. Robot is connected properly. And could be launched via custom bringup script.

The error output is also misleading. There is no problem between the connection between robot, pendant, and PC. After running my custom bringup script, this command works just fine. Does not work in the exact same clone container started from the same docker image. Attached below.

I suspect this is because of the active and inactive controllers being used.

Docker image to reproduce the issue:

ARG TARGETARCH=amd64
ARG BASE_IMAGE=nvcr.io/nvidia/isaac/ros:noble-ros2_jazzy_d3e84470d576702a380478a513fb3fc6-${TARGETARCH}
FROM ${BASE_IMAGE}

Relevant log output

ros@atas-fpg67-02:/opt/ur_ros2_ws$ ros2 launch ur_robot_driver ur_control.launch.py   ur_type:=ur5e   robot_ip:=192.168.100.3   reverse_ip:=192.168.100.77   launch_rviz:=true kinematics_params_file:=/home/ros/my_robot_calibration.yaml

[INFO] [launch]: All log files can be found below /home/ros/.ros/log/2026-04-21-18-28-31-567033-atas-fpg67-02.atas.gtri.org-595087

[INFO] [launch]: Default logging verbosity is set to INFO

[INFO] [dashboard_client-2]: process started with pid [595100]

[INFO] [controller_stopper_node-4]: process started with pid [595102]

[INFO] [ros2_control_node-1]: process started with pid [595099]

[INFO] [robot_state_helper-3]: process started with pid [595101]

[INFO] [urscript_interface-5]: process started with pid [595103]

[INFO] [robot_state_publisher-6]: process started with pid [595104]

[INFO] [rviz2-7]: process started with pid [595105]

[INFO] [trajectory_until_node-8]: process started with pid [595106]

[INFO] [spawner-9]: process started with pid [595107]

[INFO] [spawner-10]: process started with pid [595108]

[dashboard_client-2] [INFO] [1776796111.817784017] [UR_Client_Library:]: Starting primary client pipeline

[robot_state_publisher-6] [INFO] [1776796111.825927760] [robot_state_publisher]: Robot initialized

[controller_stopper_node-4] [INFO] [1776796111.828860871] [Controller stopper]: Waiting for switch controller service to come up on controller_manager/switch_controller

[robot_state_helper-3] [INFO] [1776796111.830283672] [UR_Client_Library:]: Starting primary client pipeline

[ros2_control_node-1] [INFO] [1776796111.841236429] [controller_manager]: Using Steady (Monotonic) clock for triggering controller manager cycles.

[ros2_control_node-1] [INFO] [1776796111.846721907] [controller_manager]: Subscribing to '/robot_description' topic for robot description.

[ros2_control_node-1] [INFO] [1776796111.847519546] [controller_manager]: update rate is 500 Hz

[ros2_control_node-1] [INFO] [1776796111.847530915] [controller_manager]: Overruns handling is : enabled

[ros2_control_node-1] [INFO] [1776796111.847534640] [controller_manager]: Spawning controller_manager RT thread with scheduler priority: 50

[ros2_control_node-1] [WARN] [1776796111.847575970] [controller_manager]: Could not enable FIFO RT scheduling policy: with error number <1>(Operation not permitted). See [https://control.ros.org/master/doc/ros2_control/controller_manager/doc/userdoc.html] for details on how to enable realtime scheduling.

[ros2_control_node-1] [INFO] [1776796111.848098711] [controller_manager]: Received robot description from topic.

[ros2_control_node-1] [INFO] [1776796111.848116961] [controller_manager]: Enforcing command limits is disabled. Command limits from URDF will be ignored.

[ros2_control_node-1] text not specified in the tf_prefix tag

[ros2_control_node-1] [INFO] [1776796111.851833258] [controller_manager]: Loading hardware 'ur5e' 

[ros2_control_node-1] [INFO] [1776796111.856532757] [controller_manager]: Loaded hardware 'ur5e' from plugin 'ur_robot_driver/URPositionHardwareInterface'

[ros2_control_node-1] [INFO] [1776796111.856606766] [controller_manager]: Initialize hardware 'ur5e' 

[ros2_control_node-1] [INFO] [1776796111.858637301] [controller_manager]: Successful initialization of hardware 'ur5e'

[ros2_control_node-1] [INFO] [1776796111.859589859] [resource_manager]: 'configure' hardware 'ur5e' 

[ros2_control_node-1] [INFO] [1776796111.859604831] [URPositionHardwareInterface]: Starting ...please wait...

[ros2_control_node-1] [INFO] [1776796111.859620218] [URPositionHardwareInterface]: Initializing driver...

[rviz2-7] QStandardPaths: XDG_RUNTIME_DIR not set, defaulting to '/tmp/runtime-ros'

[dashboard_client-2] [INFO] [1776796111.946687725] [dashboard_client]: Connecting to Dashboard Server at 192.168.100.3 with policy G5

[dashboard_client-2] [INFO] [1776796111.947161519] [UR_Client_Library:]: DashboardClient created for host 192.168.100.3

[dashboard_client-2] [INFO] [1776796111.948038388] [UR_Client_Library:]: Connected: Universal Robots Dashboard Server

[dashboard_client-2] 

[dashboard_client-2] [INFO] [1776796111.952517919] [dashboard_client]: Successfully connected to Dashboard Server at 192.168.100.3. Robot has version 5.12.6.0

[ros2_control_node-1] [WARN] [1776796111.955860409] [controller_manager]: Overrun detected! The controller manager missed its desired rate of 500 Hz. The loop took 2.114037 ms (missed cycles : 2).

[ros2_control_node-1] [INFO] [1776796112.065700712] [UR_Client_Library:]: Negotiated RTDE protocol version to 2.

[ros2_control_node-1] [INFO] [1776796112.065944555] [UR_Client_Library:]: Received URControl version 5.12.6.0

[ros2_control_node-1] [INFO] [1776796112.065954562] [UR_Client_Library:]: Setting up RTDE communication with frequency 500.000000

[ros2_control_node-1] [INFO] [1776796112.073290327] [UR_Client_Library:]: Starting primary client pipeline

[spawner-10] [INFO] [1776796112.074016389] [spawner_joint_trajectory_controller]: waiting for service /controller_manager/list_controllers to become available...

[rviz2-7] [INFO] [1776796112.329177371] [rviz2]: Stereo is NOT SUPPORTED

[rviz2-7] [INFO] [1776796112.329250783] [rviz2]: OpenGl version: 4.6 (GLSL 4.6)

[rviz2-7] [INFO] [1776796112.413444231] [rviz2]: Stereo is NOT SUPPORTED

[ros2_control_node-1] [INFO] [1776796113.075043043] [UR_Client_Library:]: Stopping primary client pipeline

[ros2_control_node-1] [FATAL] [1776796113.153077779] [URPositionHardwareInterface]: Could not get configuration package within timeout, are you connected to the robot?(Configured timeout: 1 sec)

[ros2_control_node-1] [ERROR] [1776796113.153130405] [resource_manager]: Failed to 'configure' hardware 'ur5e'

[ros2_control_node-1] terminate called after throwing an instance of 'std::runtime_error'

[ros2_control_node-1]   what():  Failed to set the initial state of the component : ur5e to active

[ros2_control_node-1] Stack trace (most recent call last):

[ros2_control_node-1] #18   Object "", at 0xffffffffffffffff, in 

[ros2_control_node-1] #17   Object "/opt/ur_ros2_ws/build/controller_manager/ros2_control_node", at 0x590c74875554, in _start

[ros2_control_node-1] #16   Object "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6", at 0x72b50ecca28a, in __libc_start_main

[ros2_control_node-1] #15   Object "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6", at 0x72b50ecca1c9, in 

[ros2_control_node-1] #14   Object "/opt/ur_ros2_ws/build/controller_manager/ros2_control_node", at 0x590c74874aa9, in main

[ros2_control_node-1] #13   Object "/opt/ros/jazzy/lib/librclcpp.so", at 0x72b50f2aef03, in rclcpp::executors::MultiThreadedExecutor::spin()

[ros2_control_node-1] #12   Object "/opt/ros/jazzy/lib/librclcpp.so", at 0x72b50f2aebe6, in rclcpp::executors::MultiThreadedExecutor::run(unsigned long)

[ros2_control_node-1] #11   Object "/opt/ros/jazzy/lib/librclcpp.so", at 0x72b50f29c179, in rclcpp::Executor::execute_any_executable(rclcpp::AnyExecutable&)

[ros2_control_node-1] #10   Object "/opt/ros/jazzy/lib/librclcpp.so", at 0x72b50f29ba4a, in rclcpp::Executor::execute_subscription(std::shared_ptr<rclcpp::SubscriptionBase>)

[ros2_control_node-1] #9    Object "/opt/ur_ros2_ws/install/controller_manager/lib/libcontroller_manager.so", at 0x72b50f5bf506, in rclcpp::Subscription<std_msgs::msg::String_<std::allocator<void> >, std::allocator<void>, std_msgs::msg::String_<std::allocator<void> >, std_msgs::msg::String_<std::allocator<void> >, rclcpp::message_memory_strategy::MessageMemoryStrategy<std_msgs::msg::String_<std::allocator<void> >, std::allocator<void> > >::handle_message(std::shared_ptr<void>&, rclcpp::MessageInfo const&)

[ros2_control_node-1] #8    Object "/opt/ur_ros2_ws/install/controller_manager/lib/libcontroller_manager.so", at 0x72b50f52d422, in controller_manager::ControllerManager::robot_description_callback(std_msgs::msg::String_<std::allocator<void> > const&)

[ros2_control_node-1] #7    Object "/opt/ur_ros2_ws/install/controller_manager/lib/libcontroller_manager.so", at 0x72b50f4e644f, in controller_manager::ControllerManager::init_resource_manager(std::__cxx11::basic_string<char, std::char_traits<char>, std::allocator<char> > const&) [clone .cold]

[ros2_control_node-1] #6    Object "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6.0.33", at 0x72b50ef9b390, in __cxa_throw

[ros2_control_node-1] #5    Object "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6.0.33", at 0x72b50ef85a54, in std::terminate()

[ros2_control_node-1] #4    Object "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6.0.33", at 0x72b50ef9b0d9, in 

[ros2_control_node-1] #3    Object "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6.0.33", at 0x72b50ef85ff4, in 

[ros2_control_node-1] #2    Object "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6", at 0x72b50ecc88fe, in abort

[ros2_control_node-1] #1    Object "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6", at 0x72b50ece527d, in raise

[ros2_control_node-1] #0    Object "/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6", at 0x72b50ed3eb2c, in pthread_kill

[ros2_control_node-1] Aborted (Signal sent by tkill() 595099 1001)

[ERROR] [ros2_control_node-1]: process has died [pid 595099, exit code -6, cmd '/opt/ur_ros2_ws/install/controller_manager/lib/controller_manager/ros2_control_node --ros-args --params-file /opt/ur_ros2_ws/install/ur_robot_driver/share/ur_robot_driver/config/ur5e_update_rate.yaml --params-file /tmp/launch_params_t_91gqjr'].

[spawner-10] [FATAL] [1776796122.080958188] [spawner_joint_trajectory_controller]: Could not contact service /controller_manager/list_controllers

[ERROR] [spawner-10]: process has died [pid 595108, exit code 1, cmd '/opt/ur_ros2_ws/install/controller_manager/lib/controller_manager/spawner --controller-manager /controller_manager --controller-manager-timeout 10 --inactive joint_trajectory_controller forward_velocity_controller forward_position_controller forward_effort_controller force_mode_controller passthrough_trajectory_controller freedrive_mode_controller tool_contact_controller --ros-args'].

[spawner-9] [INFO] [1776796123.146575973] [spawner_joint_state_broadcaster]: waiting for service /controller_manager/list_controllers to become available...

[spawner-9] [FATAL] [1776796133.151992296] [spawner_joint_state_broadcaster]: Could not contact service /controller_manager/list_controllers

[ERROR] [spawner-9]: process has died [pid 595107, exit code 1, cmd '/opt/ur_ros2_ws/install/controller_manager/lib/controller_manager/spawner --controller-manager /controller_manager --controller-manager-timeout 10 joint_state_broadcaster io_and_status_controller speed_scaling_state_broadcaster force_torque_sensor_broadcaster tcp_pose_broadcaster ur_configuration_controller friction_model_controller scaled_joint_trajectory_controller --ros-args'].

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• I agree to make this context public

[urfeex]

Something in your issue description seems off.

• The image you referenced for reproduction is a nvidia isaac-ros image. Nvidia ships their own modified version of the driver, which would be version 99.2.0.
• Version 5.0.0 was never binary released for Jazzy

Nevertheless, this seems to be the same symptom as mentioned in #1772. We haven't yet decided on how to handle this right now (see UniversalRobots/Universal_Robots_Client_Library#489 (review)). But seeing this reported a second time emphasizes the importance of that.

[Robert-Jia00129]

Thanks a lot Exner for the prompt reply. Apologies for tagging the wrong version.

nvidia issac-ros might actually be the issue. I'll look into this further. Thanks for pointing this out.

[Robert-Jia00129]

Update on this. For my custom launch file that worked (built from binary). The version is

(venv) ros@atas-fpg67-02:/opt/robot_learner_ws/src/single_ur5e/ws$ ros2 pkg xml ur_description --tag version
3.5.0
(venv) ros@atas-fpg67-02:/opt/robot_learner_ws/src/single_ur5e/ws$ ros2 pkg xml ur_robot_driver --tag version
3.6.0

The same launch file does NOT work with the apt pkg. Which has version 99.2.0.

With the default ur_controller bringup, Both versions (from apt and from binary) inconsistently work in other containers (jazzy-desktop-full) I have.

They don't work on first try. But I would do some other stuff and then they would start working. There is no consistent solution to it. Sometimes I switch controllers and it works. Sometimes I would checkout to a previous git commit and it works. But there are no consistent solutions (A not on this, I tried checking out to previous git commits. The bringup worked. I stopped, waited, and ran the exact same command again, and it fails).

[urfeex]

@Ravindar10 I'm afraid, that's actually misleading advice there. The error in the OPs output comes from this line:

https://github.com/UniversalRobots/Universal_Robots_Client_Library/blob/f96fe15b7b70bc85de9ef9256f414968c7e3a7d9/src/ur/ur_driver.cpp#L108

That has nothing to do with the external control program running or not or if any controllers are active from a previous run. I still don't fully understand the issue, but the driver is connected to the primary interface at this point, has started communication and is waiting for the configuration package, which is sent as part of the connection procedure on the primary interface.

[urfeex]

As I read this, this can be closed, since #489 has been merged. For not using the 99.2.0 version, please see the discussion in #1623.

@Robert-Jia00129 Feel free to comment / reopen, if you disagree.