Edit

Configure a Fake Arm

Configure a fake arm to test different models of robotic arms without any physical hardware:

Navigate to the CONFIGURE tab of your machine’s page in the Viam app. Click the + icon next to your machine part in the left-hand menu and select Component. Select the arm type, then select the fake model. Enter a name or use the suggested name for your arm and click Create.

An example configuration for a fake ur5e arm in the Viam app Config Builder.

Fill in the attributes as applicable to your arm, according to the table below.

Important

Only one of these attributes can be supplied for your fake arm to work. If neither are specified, a fake arm model with 1 degree-of-freedom will be used. If both attributes are specified, an error is thrown stating “can only populate either ArmModel or ModelPath - not both”.

{
  "name": "<arm_name>",
  "model": "fake",
  "type": "arm",
  "namespace": "rdk",
  "attributes": {
    "arm-model": "<your_arm_model>",
    "model-path": "<path_to_arm_model>"
  },
  "depends_on": []
}

{
  "name": "my-fake-arm",
  "model": "fake",
  "type": "arm",
  "namespace": "rdk",
  "attributes": {
    "arm-model": "ur5e"
  },
  "depends_on": []
}

The following attributes are available for fake arms:

Name	Type	Required?	Description
`arm-model`	string	Optional	Model name of the robotic arm model you want your fake arm to act as. See built-in arm models for supported model names.
`model-path`	string	Optional	The path to the kinematic configuration file of the arm driver you want your fake arm to act as. This path should point to the exact location where the file is located on your computer running `viam-server`.

Test the arm

Once your arm is configured and connected, open the arm’s TEST panel on the CONFIGURE or CONTROL tabs.

Use the buttons to move the end position or the joints and check whether it moves as expected.

If the arm does not appear on the TEST panel, or if you notice unexpected behavior, check your machine’s LOGS tab for errors, and review the configuration.

Troubleshooting

If your arm is not working as expected, follow these steps:

Check your machine logs on the LOGS tab to check for errors.
Review this model’s documentation to ensure you have configured all required attributes.
Click on the TEST panel on the CONFIGURE or CONTROL tab and test if you can use the arm there.

If none of these steps work, reach out to us on the Community Discord and we will be happy to help.

Next steps

For more configuration and usage info, see:

Was this page helpful?

Glad to hear it! If you have any other feedback please let us know:

We're sorry about that. To help us improve, please tell us what we can do better:

Thank you!