Anvil OpenArm Devbox

Use this path when your OpenArm arrived with an Anvil Devbox. Keep Anvil's ros2_control stack running: it owns homing, gravity compensation, motor management, and the 500 Hz hardware loop. Sentinel connects to the Devbox over DDS.

Data flow

Each command array contains eight slots: seven arm joints followed by the gripper joint. The Devbox publishes joint state in a different order. Sentinel maps state and commands by joint name, so the two orders do not need to match.

Configure the Devbox

In /home/anvil/anvil-loader/.env.config, configure the Devbox for external ROS 2 control:

ROS_DOMAIN_ID=<same-domain-as-sentinel>
ENABLE_CYCLONEDDS=true
CYCLONEDDS_PEER_IP=<sentinel-computer-ip>
CYCLONEDDS_IFACE=<devbox-network-interface>
ENABLE_VR_TELEOP=false
ARMS_CONTROL_CONFIG_FILE=openarm_v2_inference.yaml

• Use the same ROS_DOMAIN_ID as the Sentinel runtime.
• Pin Cyclone DDS to the interface connected to the Sentinel computer.
• Disable Anvil's VR teleoperation so it cannot compete with Sentinel.
• Use the inference control configuration. Leader-follower configurations do not accept the forward-position topics.

Use wired Ethernet for normal operation, especially when streaming the Devbox cameras.

Bring up the integration

cd /home/anvil/anvil-loader
docker compose up

ros2 daemon stop
ros2 topic list | grep -E "joint_states|forward_position"
ros2 topic hz /joint_states
ros2 topic echo /joint_states --once

bridge:
  manipulator:
    enabled: true
    capability_id: dual_arms
    command:
      outputs:
        - topic: /follower_l_forward_position_controller/commands
          qos: reliable
          joint_names:
            - openarm_left_joint1
            - openarm_left_joint2
            - openarm_left_joint3
            - openarm_left_joint4
            - openarm_left_joint5
            - openarm_left_joint6
            - openarm_left_joint7
            - openarm_left_finger_joint1
        - topic: /follower_r_forward_position_controller/commands
          qos: reliable
          joint_names:
            - openarm_right_joint1
            - openarm_right_joint2
            - openarm_right_joint3
            - openarm_right_joint4
            - openarm_right_joint5
            - openarm_right_joint6
            - openarm_right_joint7
            - openarm_right_finger_joint1
    state:
      topic: /joint_states
      qos: sensor
      stale_timeout_s: 2.5

Connect the Devbox cameras

The Devbox publishes its camera feeds as sensor_msgs/msg/CompressedImage. Connect one feed first, then add the remaining views:

The Sentinel camera configuration must match the Devbox capture resolution and frame rate. See Camera topics for validation steps.

Stop and recover safely

• Keep the Anvil web app open during bring-up so you can see motor errors and use its pause or E-stop controls.
• Disarm Sentinel before resuming from an Anvil pause, E-stop, or motor-error reset. Re-arm only after the Devbox is active and measured state is current.
• If /joint_states goes stale, disarm before re-arming. The bridge fault clears during the deactivate/activate cycle.
• Do not use network loss or the headset as the emergency-stop path.