Getting Started

To get started with the Reach Robotics SDK, you will first need to clone the SDK into your development workspace.

cd ~/workspace/src
git clone https://github.com/Reach-Robotics/reach_robotics_sdk.git

The SDK is available for both Python and C/C++ and includes a ROS 2 node (communication bridge) for easy integration with ROS 2 applications. If you intend to use the ROS 2 node, ensure the repository is cloned into your ROS workspace src folder.

Note

The Reach System communication protocol is only compiled/tested on the following platform/operating system combinations:

  • aarch-64 (Linux)

  • x86-64 (Linux & Windows)

Warning

BPL Protocol (bplprotocol) has been deprecated (August 2025) and replaced with Reach System protocol (rs_protocol).

Getting Started With Python

To get started with the Reach System Python protocol, install the rs_protocol package and requirements using the provided setup script for your operating system.

Windows:

./scripts/setup_windows.bat

Linux:

./scripts/setup_linux.sh

Once the setup script has been executed, you can run the examples provided in the examples folder.

To connect using UDP, update your example script to use the UDP connection parameters. For example:

python3 ./examples/joint_control_app.py --connection udp --ip <MANIPULATOR_IP> --udp_port <PORT>

Replace <MANIPULATOR_IP> (e.g. 192.168.2.3) and <PORT> (e.g. 6789) with your robot’s IP address and port.

Note

The minimum supported Python version for this package is 3.6.

Getting Started With C/C++

To get started with the Reach System C/C++ communications protocol, navigate to the src folder.

reach_robotics_sdk
└── rs_protocol
    └── src
        └── examples
            ├── decodePacketExample.c
            └── encodePacketExample.c
        └── packetID.h
        └── rs_protocol.h

In the src folder you will find the packetID.h file as well as the rs_protocol.h file. These files may be included in your c/c++ project to decode and encode Reach System packets. Some examples of decoding and encoding packets are provided in the examples folder. You can compile and execute examples using the GCC toolchain as shown below.

cd ./rs_protocol/srs/examples/
gcc decodePacketExample.c -I .. -o decode_example.o

# To run the example
./decode_example.o

Note

C src files can be cross compiled for C++ using the appropriate toolchain. For example, you can use g++ to compile C++ code that includes C headers.