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ChangeLog
#########

Version 0.3.1
=============

Subversion Revision: 2401

Initial Release: 2011/04/24

Core
----

* Fixed OpenRAVE freeze when closed with Ctrl-C

* Fixed problem with detecting system crlibm installs

Python
------

* openravepy now gets copied onto the python site-packages or dist-packages folder. For Linux users, this means it is not necessary to set the PYTHONPATH anymore when installing to /usr or /usr/local.

* ikfast fixes inclusion of math libraries and python-mpmath

Release
-------

* The openravepy python bindings now get installed into the python site-packages/dist-packages folder.

* Using cpack to componentize all the installs and create debian source packages. The debian source packages are created with DebSourcePPA.cmake and can handle multiple distributions.

Version 0.3.0
=============

Subversion Revision: r2371

Initial Release: 2011/04/18

Core
----

* Moved all the header files to the 'include/openrave-$MAJOR.$MINOR/openrave' folder. 'rave' folder is now deprecated.

* Include files will now be installed in openrave-$MAJOR.$MINOR folders

* Binaries will now be suffixed with $MAJOR.$MINOR. Ie openrave0.3-config, openrave0.3.py. Symlinks will be provied to openrave

* OpenRAVE installs version-specific cmake configuration files stored in lib/cmake/openrave-$MAJOR.$MINOR/. The FindOpenRAVE.cmake file just looks for these openrave installations.

* Removed linking with Coin3d due to GPL license issue. Now will attemp to load only if a ProblemInstance supports model loading.

IKFast
------

* Added TranslationLocalGlobal6D new IK type

* Fixed inversekinematics database generator loading/caching problems. Fixed a cloning problem.

* Made sure all python examples rely on pre-generated ik files.

Release
-------

* Windows Installer using Nullsoft Scriptable Install System. It automatically downloads necessary libraries and registers openrave to the windows registry.

* Added many scripts to automate upload to sourceforge

Windows
-------

* Updated all DLLs and libraries, cleaned a lot of old stuff, now relying on official installations of boost and qt4.

* Reduced the number of MSVC special cases in the build system

Misc
----

* Fixed ivcon loading bug

* Added a ivmodelloader interface to use coin3d functionality across plugin boundaries

Version 0.2.20
==============

Subversion Revision: r2241

Initial Release: 2011/03/28

Core
----

* Addding linking with assimp. If present, libopenrave-core will not use the buggy ivcon.

* Added EnvironmentBase::ReadTrimeshFile allowing ability to load kinbody files from the openrave command line.

* Refactored openrave-core and several plugins in order to make compilation more parallelizable.

* Clone now returns a void instead of bool since it relies on exceptions for error handling instead of return values.

* Fixed many bugs with prefixing names for robots/kinbodies in the XML/COLLADA readers.

* Better detection of sympy installation. Can now use sympy system installs if they pass a "compatibility test". If 0.6.7, can patch sympy dynamically.

* removed recursive lock from plugindatabase.h

* FindIKSolution forces environment lock since it is so common to use

* Support compilation with Visual Studio 2010

Python
------

* Can now lock environments in multiple python threads without deadlocking.

IKFast
------

* ikfastsolvers: ikfast c++ files are individually compiled instead of included as headers. speeds up compilation

* perf timing is more accurate using CLOCK_MONOTONIC

* Added automatic updating of the cached files in sandbox/updateikfiles.py

* Added a lot of documentation on ikfast.

* Added 5DOF inverse kinematics: position+direction.

* Added a TranslationXY2D primitive for 2D translation (see tutorial_iktranslation2d example)

Testing
-------

* Unit testing of ikfast using python nose, developed several custom plugins in test/nosetests

* Linked with jenkins test server now at http://www.openrave.org/testing

Documentation
-------------

* Documentation infrastructure rewritten. It now uses mostly reStructuredText and compiled with sphinx. the official openrave homepage is also outputted by sphinx. this allows us to combine interfaces, testing results, python docs, and C++ docs all in one. epydoc has been removed.

* The robot database is now compiled from the ikfast results with robot images and links to the testing server.

Sensors
-------

* Removed sensor Init/Reset methods and added a Configure method for controlling power and rendering properties since all sensors will share these configurations.

* Added an actuator sensor for modeling motors, etc.

* Added a camera viewer GUI that pops up whenever the SensorBase::Configure(CC_RenderDataOn) function is called.

* Added a showsensors tutorial

Version 0.2.19
==============

Subversion Revision: r2031

Initial Release: 2011/02/17

Core
----

* Now OpenRAVE explicitly controls what symbols are exported and imported into the dynamic table. This means much faster loading times of openrave and its plugins!

http://gcc.gnu.org/wiki/Visibility

* OpenRAVE exceptions are now caught across shared object boundaries.

* Added OPENRAVE_DLL and OPENRAVE_DLL_EXPORTS to control import vs export of symbols. This changed the FindOpenRAVE.cmake file changed.

* Added a "Release" cmake build type that disables all stl/boost asserts and security checks. This will produce the most optimized code possible, but should be used only for well-tested production code. (default build is still RelWithDebInfo).

* Removed "vanchor" parameter from KinBody::Joint since it could be autogenerated.

IKFast
------

* ikfast now supports solving IK for robots that do not have intersecting axes. This includes work from Raghavan, Roth, Osvatic, Kohli, Manocha, and Canny.

* Generation process itself became about 3-5x faster. For example, the puma ik can be generated in 9 seconds and wam ik in 27 seconds. Fixes freezes users have experienced before.

* Now uses infinite precision fractions for all its computations, therefore there is no more rounding and hunting for zeros.

* PR2 IK improved a lot after replacing conic section intersection with 4th degree polynomial root finding.

* solving pairwise variables is now handles much more cases.

* 5DOF IK works and can detect special geometry like intersecting axes (katana arm)

* added sanity checks to high degree polynomials to remove solutions due to precision error

Misc
----

* Added a orpythonbinding example showing how users can register their python classes/functions with the OpenRAVE C++ framework.

Version 0.2.18
==============

Subversion Revision: r1975

Initial Release: 2011/01/18

Core
----

* moved the check_libm_accuracy script in libopenrave folder

* Moved all configuration files to the build (BINARY) folder rather than have it in source. The build process for configuration files changed a little to accommodate simultaneous builds with different options better. This allows us tohave double/float precision + debug/release all at the same time without forcing a rebuild. In order to avoid any collision troubles, the following files were renamed::

  classhashes.h -> interfacehashes.h
  defines.h -> config.h

* updated zlib 1.2.5 and minizip

* Added more joint types involving all permutations of revolution and prismatic joints! For example Revolute, Revolute, Revolute or Revolute,Prismatic. or Prismatic,Prismatic,Revolute. In order to support joints with multiple axes better, many of the fields were changed from single values to vectors of values. Most of the Joint::Get* methods now take an axis index.

* Organized the joint hierarchy and added a Joint::_ComputeInternalInformation to do some of the preprocessing that was previously done in the individual readers.

* Added normalizeAxisRotation - Find the rotation theta around axis such that rot(axis,theta) * q is closest to the identity rotation. This is used in extracting joint angles and converting rotation to euler angles.

COLLADA
-------

* can now read and write compressed collada files (zae)

* fixed many bugs in colladareader units

* all collada robots are offered as zae. Many previous *.robot.xml robots were removed to prefer the COLLADA counterparts. The models.tgz file size reduced greatly.

* There is now a folder dedicated to all possible COLLADA robots that is seaprate from the openrave trunk:

https://openrave.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/openrave/data/robots

* For ROS users: There is now a collada_robots ROS package that will check out all these robots. You would need to add the following bashrc line to get them into your openrave path::

  export OPENRAVE_DATA=$OPENRAVE_DATA:`rospack find collada_robots`/data

* can open collada visual scenes without any kinematics scene definitions (collada 1.4).

* can write physics data (masses + inertias) and collision adjacency data

Version 0.2.17
==============

Subversion Revision: r1955

Initial Release: 2011/01/09

COLLADA Robot Specification
---------------------------

Released initial specification for robotics info in COLLADA.

http://openrave.programmingvision.com/index.php/Started:COLLADA

Core
----

Mimic Joints Support Arbitrary Functions
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It is now possible to define the value of a joint as a complex formula involving any number of joints from the robot. For example:

j2 = arctan(0.5*cos(j0)) - j1

Here's the C++ API modifications:

http://openrave.programmingvision.com/ordocs/en/html/classOpenRAVE_1_1KinBody_1_1Joint.html#a0e31c5be31c4145afa786e0c0d6a46ae

OpenRAVE XML tutorial:
http://openrave.programmingvision.com/index.php/Started:Formats#Closed-chains_and_Mimic_Joints

And of course COLLADA spec modifications necessary:
http://openrave.programmingvision.com/index.php/Started:COLLADA#formula.2Ftechnique

Complex kinematics support
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kinematics hierarchy now supports closed-chains correctly. It uses graph theory to find places to find the loops and how to compute link transformations with the least dependencies. This information is pre-computed in KinBody::_ComputeInternalInformation() making calls to SetDOFValues/SetDOFVelocities much faster. Some of the added functions:

KinBody::GetClosedLoops - returns all the unique closed loops of the robot.
KinBody::GetChain - returns a chain of joints or a chain of links
KinBody::Link::GetParentLinks - returns all parent links
KinBody::Link::IsParentLink
KinBody::Joint::GetHierarchyParentLink - joint values computed in this coordinate system
KinBody::Joint::GetHierarchyChildLink - joint moves this link
KinBody::GetDependencyOrderedJoints - will return the joints in the correct topological order.

Thanks to Nick Hillier for giving us the Bobcat S185 skid-steer loader model to test closed-chains with! This robot has 11 joints with 3 closed-loops and only 2 degrees of freedom, which makes it an interesting challenge.

http://www.bobcat.com/publicadmin/viewArticle.html?id=3910

Started development on a new tool called 'fkfast'. It solves the analytic equations for closed loops. It turns out that the Bobcat fk requires a quadratic equation to be solved with coefficients involving powers up to 8. Combined with the new mimic joint features, openrave can solve and simulate the mechanism correctly! If anyone is interested in checking it out, here's the corresponding file (from ticket #94):

fkfast is still experimental, so is not as usable as ikfast. For anyone curious, the file can be found in

test/fkfast.py

Accurate/Robust Math
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Added high precision math functions using crlibm. On compilation time, OpenRAVE checks with functions from libm are inaccurate and replaces them.


Planning
--------

Introduced a new planner called "WorkspaceTrajectoryTracker" that can take arbitrary trajectories of the end effector and quickly produce smooth configuration space trajectories that can follow the workspace path. The planner can also follow constraints as specified in the PlannerParameters::_constrainfn. The "MoveHandStraight" function now defaults to this planner. There's an example that shows off this functionality here::

  openrave.py --example movehandstraight

Models
------

Added the DARPA RE2 model and updated Care-O-Bot3 and arm models.

ROS
---

Added 3 useful scripts connecting openrave planning to the ROS world. They are all in orrosplanning package:

* ik_openrave.py - uses the openrave ik offering the orrosplanning/IK service

* armplanning_openrave.py - offers arm planning using the orrosplanning/MoveToHandPosition service

* graspplanning_openrave.py - offers finding grasp sets for new objects using with object_manipulation_msgs/GraspPlanning service

Misc
----

* Added convex hull computation command inside grasper plugin so that openrave can convert point clouds into meshes for grasping.

* Added several new python examples: checkconvexdecomposition.py, checkvisibility.py, fastgrasping.py,

Version 0.2.15
==============

Subversion Revision: r1846

Initial Release: 2010/11/20

Core
----

* All user data is now derived from UserData class, this allows RTTI to be used making type casts safe.

* Added a global openrave state that manages environments, environments now have unique ids.

* Added OPENRAVE_DATABASE environment variable to allow users to specify multiple database directories different from ~/.openrave.

* Safer destruction of all openrave resources using RaveDestroy, no more segfauls on exit.

Velocities and Physics API
--------------------------

* Cleaned up velocity functions in the physics engine (interface is simpler). KinBody class now converts joint velocities to link velocities (and vice versa) internally. All joint velocity functions have been removed from the physics engine interface, ie only link velocity functions are offered. Link velocities always point to the link's coordinate system origin (not the center of mass).

* Setting velocity behaves similar to setting dof values. the default physics engine now stores velocities (it did not before).

* Some discussion for these changes can be found in this ticket:
http://sourceforge.net/apps/trac/openrave/ticket/69

Controller API
--------------

* Controller interface cleaning up, setting a controller on a robot now requires the degrees of freedom that the controller uses to be specified. The controller dof features allows multiple controllers to use the same robot without interfering with each other.

* Added a MultiController class to simplify setting multiple controllers per robot. A C++ example is shown in the ormulticontrol C++ demo:

http://openrave.programmingvision.com/ordocs/en/html/ormulticontrol_8cpp-example.html

ikfast
------

* ikfast can solve more complex kinematics requiring conic section intersections or 6th degree polynomial solutions. solving equations is now faster and more accurate (internal precision is to 30 decimal digits).

* ikfast supports a new lookat type.

* PR2 IK is pre-generated.

Sensors
-------

* Added many new sensor types (Odometry/Tactle) and exporting them through the python interface.

* One sensor can support multiple sensor data (ie Odometry+Tactile+IMU).

Other
-----

* Viewer graph handles allow changing transformation and showing/hiding.

* Major upgrades on collada reader extending robot-specific information (more on this in a future email once writer is done).

Version 0.2.13
==============

Subversion Revision: r1756

Initial Release: 2010/10/04

Core
----

Separates the global OpenRAVE state from the environment state. The main reason for this move was for better management of multiple environments and for a new upcoming ROSEnvironment class that will integrate better with the ROS package file system.

More specifically, the new global state

* manages plugins/interfaces

* allows users to better manage multiple environments

* manages debug levels

* fixes many race conditions by organizing destruction order of all global resources.

* allows destruction of entire OpenRAVE state and all resources using a single call: RaveDestroy. These changes fix all thrown exceptions when a program exits.

* OpenRAVE is initialized by first calling RaveInitialize, independent of the environment.

All the global functions are prefixed with Rave*.

Version 0.2.12
==============

Subversion Revision: r1736

Initial Release: 2010/09/16

Core
----

* Destruction order has been cleaned up. Before, openrave would freeze up when locking the environment in a Destroy method, now it doesn't.

* RemoveKinBody/RemoveProblem/RemoveSensor are all handled now by one :meth:`.Environment.Remove`

Sensors
-------

* A sensor can be added into the environment without a robot using :meth:`.Enviornment.AddSensor`

* All the sensors in the environment can be queried using Environment.GetSensors, this returns all sensors attached to all the robots and all the environment sensors. Individual sensors can be queried by name using :meth:`.Environment.GetSensor`

* Can now store sensor parameters in side *.sensor.xml files and include them from a parent xml file using the file="..." attribute. This applies to all interface types, not just sensors. Here's a tutorial:

http://openrave.programmingvision.com/wiki/index.php/Format:XML#Sensor

* Added IMU sensor definitions

* Cloning treats sensors separately now. In order to clone sensors (robot+environment), the Clone_Sensors option has to be specified. The definitions of the robot attached sensors are still cloned, but not the internal interfaces.

Version 0.2.11
==============

Subversion Revision: r1689

Initial Release: 2010/07/30

Core
----

Every interface now has a :meth:`.InterfaceBase.SendCommand` function

Robot
-----

* iksolver methods in manipulator class were cleaned up. It is now possible to get the pointer using ManipulatorBase::GetIkSolver. and then do ManipulatorBase::GetIkSolver()->SendCommand(...).

Version 0.2.9
=============

Subversion Revision: r1648

Initial Release: 2010/07/23

Core
----

* Cleans up a lot of the interfaces and puts in a consistent documentation system for plugin authors.

* There is now a rave/plugin.h file that helps plugin authors export interfaces much simpler.

* Plugin loading at start-up is now 2x+ faster. Users do not have to worry about having too many plugins in openrave.

* All interfaces (not just problems) now have a RegisterCommand function.

Planning
--------

* A lot of bug fixes on camera visibility planning (VisualFeedback problem)

Kinematics
----------

* Moved methods like GetJointXXX to GetDOFXXX. With some joints having multiple degrees of freedom, the joint indices are not necessarily equal to the DOF indices.

ikfast
------

* IKFast has been greatly improved, the ray inverse kinematics is also
working nicely

* It is now possible to use the inversekinematics.py database generator through the ikfast problem instance using :ref:`probleminstance-ikfast-loadikfastsolver` command.