Failing to load the controller.yaml

[javijurado]

Describe the bug
I have a package call robot_description with all the urdf, config file etc (all necessary to run gz_ros2_control_demos). When I tried to load the controller on my simulation i got the following error

[gazebo-2] [INFO] [1741787180.745733094] [controller_manager]: Resource Manager has been successfully initialized. Starting Controller Manager services...
[gazebo-2] [INFO] [1741787180.950502669] [controller_manager]: Loading controller : 'joint_state_broadcaster' of type 'joint_state_broadcaster/JointStateBroadcaster'
[gazebo-2] [INFO] [1741787180.950546700] [controller_manager]: Loading controller 'joint_state_broadcaster'
[gazebo-2] [INFO] [1741787180.954088329] [controller_manager]: Controller 'joint_state_broadcaster' node arguments: --ros-args --params-file --param use_sim_time:=true 
[gazebo-2] [ERROR] [1741787180.954242372] [controller_manager]: 111 Caught exception of type : N6rclcpp10exceptions22RCLInvalidROSArgsErrorE while initializing controller 'joint_state_broadcaster': failed to parse arguments: Couldn't parse params file: '--params-file --param'. Error: Error opening YAML file, at /build/src/ros2/rcl/rcl_yaml_param_parser/src/parser.c:271, at /build/src/ros2/rcl/rcl/src/rcl/arguments.c:415
[spawner-5] [FATAL] [1741787180.955017408] [spawner_joint_state_broadcaster]: Failed loading controller joint_state_broadcaster
[ERROR] [spawner-5]: process has died [pid 49197, exit code 1, cmd '/home/javier/workspace/KION/kion-ros2-rt/install/lib/controller_manager/spawner joint_state_broadcaster --ros-args'].

but if instead of that I create a symlink to the same config file but at the level of src folder works.

Path that fail:

<parameters>/home/javier/workspace/TEST/test-ros2-rt/src/test_nonfix/robot_description/forklift_1252/config/controllers.yaml</parameters>

Path that works and is a symlink to the previous one:
<parameters>/home/javier/workspace/TEST/test-ros2-rt/src/test_controllers.yaml</parameters>

Environment (please complete the following information):

• OS: Debian:12-slim container
• Everything has been build from source
• ROS: jazzy

If something is not clear, i can explain better. Also if some data is needed, I can put it here

[christophfroehlich]

can you share the URDF section where you load the gz_ros2_control plugin, and the spawner command for the controller from your launchfile?

[javijurado]

First of all,
Thanks @christophfroehlich for your help on this

• model..urdf.xacro
  robot_description lives on: /home/javier/workspace/KION/kion-ros2-rt/src/kion_fix/ros2_prototype_jdm/src/robot_description/forklift_1252/urdf/fl_1252_description.urdf.xacro

This doesn't work

<gazebo>
    <plugin filename="gz_ros2_control-system" name="gz_ros2_control::GazeboSimROS2ControlPlugin">
      <ros>
        <remapping>ackermann_steering_controller/odometry:=odom</remapping>
        <remapping>ackermann_steering_controller/tf_odometry:=tf</remapping>
        <remapping>ackermann_steering_controller/reference:=cmd_vel_nav</remapping>
      </ros>
      <parameters>$(find robot_description)/forklift_1252/config/controllers.yaml</parameters>
    </plugin>
  </gazebo>

This work

<gazebo>
    <plugin filename="gz_ros2_control-system" name="gz_ros2_control::GazeboSimROS2ControlPlugin">
      <ros>
        <remapping>ackermann_steering_controller/odometry:=odom</remapping>
        <remapping>ackermann_steering_controller/tf_odometry:=tf</remapping>
        <remapping>ackermann_steering_controller/reference:=cmd_vel_nav</remapping>
      </ros>
      <parameters>/home/javier/workspace/KION/kion-ros2-rt/src/controllers.yaml</parameters>
    </plugin>
  </gazebo>

• launch

joint_state_broadcaster_spawner = Node(
        package="controller_manager",
        executable="spawner",
        arguments=["joint_state_broadcaster"],
    )

...

          RegisterEventHandler(
                event_handler=OnProcessExit(
                    target_action=gz_spawn_entity,
                    on_exit=[joint_state_broadcaster_spawner],
                )
            ),
            gz_spawn_entity,

[christophfroehlich]

I was not able to reproduce your issue. If the parameter file is not found, then the controller_manager itself won't start.

I don't know where the empty parameter file string comes from, normally this looks like:
[gazebo-1] [INFO] [1741897897.779542720] [controller_manager]: Controller 'joint_state_broadcaster' node arguments: --ros-args --params-file /workspaces/ros2_rolling_ws/install/gz_ros2_control_demos/share/gz_ros2_control_demos/config/cart_controller_position.yaml --param use_sim_time:=true

Can you try to reproduce your issue with the gz_ros2_control_demos?

[se1exin]

I just had the exact same issue. Coincidentally my package name was also robot_description. Renaming my package to something else (robot_tank_desc) fixed the issue.

I'm still learning ROS2 so I might be way off, but perhaps robot_description being used as the robot's description topic in ROS is causing some kind of conflict? 🤷

[thedevmanek]

I can confirm that this problem still exists ( using humble latest).
Argument parser error:Couldn't parse params file: '--params-file $(find office_bot_model)/share/office_bot_model/controllersofficebotcontroller.yaml'. Error: Error opening YAML file, at ./src/parser.c:270, at ./src/rcl/arguments.c:406
for some reason it is not able to dereference file:// absolute path works as expected but using
Adding on to this is the syntax $(find ) no longer used in ros2 humble? Because i am unable to use it on CLI and inside the urdf file

[javijurado]

@christophfroehlich Thanks for your input on this

Can you try to reproduce your issue with the gz_ros2_control_demos?

I will try to reproduce on the demos and let you know but some people are having the same issue

[christophfroehlich]

Whoever can help us reproducing the issue will help us fixing it (if it's even a bug in this plugin)

[thedevmanek]

I was able to run the demos(they worked) and i realised that they use cmake. I am using python does that make a difference. Adding full path works which means that the problem is with $(find pkg) I am not able to use it for meshes as well.Is there a way to debug this?

[danilo-schneider]

For some reason, only absolute paths work on parameters tag when using it directly on a sdf not a xacro urdf. Everything I tried gave me Argument parser error...

[KMSeenmaa]

I did some quite in-depth testing with different package configurations etc. For me the issue seemed to be that when the package name included "robot_description" then the package would fail with the following error:

[gazebo-1] [ERROR] [1748603593.435056489] [controller_manager]: Caught exception of type : N6rclcpp10exceptions22RCLInvalidROSArgsErrorE while initializing controller 'joint_state_broadcaster': failed to parse arguments: Couldn't parse params file: '--params-file -p'. Error: Error opening YAML file, at ./src/parser.c:271, at ./src/rcl/arguments.c:415
[spawner-5] [FATAL] [1748603593.445117349] [spawner_joint_state_broadcaster]: Failed loading controller joint_state_broadcaster
[ERROR] [spawner-5]: process has died [pid 66481, exit code 1, cmd '/opt/ros/jazzy/lib/controller_manager/spawner joint_state_broadcaster --ros-args'].

This would only apply if the package was built with ament_cmake build-system. If it was built with ament_python everything seemed to work fine even when I had "robot_description" in my package name.

To point it out more clearly, the problematic part is the following:

<gazebo>
    <plugin filename="libgz_ros2_control-system.so" name="gz_ros2_control::GazeboSimROS2ControlPlugin">
        <parameters>$(find <package_name>)/config/control_joint.yaml</parameters>
    </plugin>
</gazebo>

when the package_name part includes "robot_description".

[rishitiwari08]

Hello,

I was encountering a very similar error to the one described here.

Initially, I was working within a package named my_robot_description. I consistently faced the same issue you've reported.

However, as a test, I replicated all the necessary files and configurations into a new package named my_car, and surprisingly, it worked without any problems.

This leads me to suspect that there might be an underlying issue related to the package name itself, particularly if it contains "my_robot" or "my_robot_description". It seems like there might be a conflict or an unexpected behavior when using these specific naming conventions.

Perhaps this observation can help in diagnosing the root cause.

[mltejas88]

Hello,

I am facing similar issue wherein the controllers are loaded but failed to activate. I am using Ubuntu 22.04 ROS Humble and Gazebo Fortress.
Error:
[spawner-5] [INFO] [1762188964.220238257] [spawner_joint_state_broadcaster]: Loaded joint_state_broadcaster
[ign gazebo-3] [INFO] [1762188964.301725844] [controller_manager]: Configuring controller 'joint_state_broadcaster'
[ign gazebo-3] [INFO] [1762188964.301902535] [joint_state_broadcaster]: 'joints' or 'interfaces' parameter is empty. All available state interfaces will be published
[ign gazebo-3] [ERROR] [1762188969.310228908] [controller_manager]: Switch controller timed out after 5.000000 seconds!
[spawner-5] [ERROR] [1762188969.311416680] [spawner_joint_state_broadcaster]: Failed to activate controller : joint_state_broadcaster
[ERROR] [spawner-5]: process has died [pid 6955, exit code 1, cmd '/opt/ros/humble/lib/controller_manager/spawner joint_state_broadcaster --controller-manager /controller_manager --ros-args -r __node:=spawner_joint_state_broadcaster'].
[INFO] [spawner-6]: process started with pid [7013]
[ign gazebo-3] [INFO] [1762188970.980378246] [controller_manager]: Loading controller 'joint_trajectory_controller'
[ign gazebo-3] [WARN] [1762188970.998079455] [joint_trajectory_controller]: [Deprecated]: "allow_nonzero_velocity_at_trajectory_end" is set to true. The default behavior will change to false.
[spawner-6] [INFO] [1762188971.010935512] [spawner_joint_trajectory_controller]: Loaded joint_trajectory_controller
[ign gazebo-3] [INFO] [1762188971.011622687] [controller_manager]: Configuring controller 'joint_trajectory_controller'
[ign gazebo-3] [INFO] [1762188971.011860592] [joint_trajectory_controller]: No specific joint names are used for command interfaces. Using 'joints' parameter.
[ign gazebo-3] [INFO] [1762188971.011885459] [joint_trajectory_controller]: Command interfaces are [position] and state interfaces are [position velocity].
[ign gazebo-3] [INFO] [1762188971.011922087] [joint_trajectory_controller]: Using 'splines' interpolation method.
[ign gazebo-3] [INFO] [1762188971.012631174] [joint_trajectory_controller]: Controller state will be published at 50.00 Hz.
[ign gazebo-3] [INFO] [1762188971.013707086] [joint_trajectory_controller]: Action status changes will be monitored at 20.00 Hz.
[ign gazebo-3] [ERROR] [1762188976.017625551] [controller_manager]: Switch controller timed out after 5.000000 seconds!
[spawner-6] [ERROR] [1762188976.018561391] [spawner_joint_trajectory_controller]: Failed to activate controller : joint_trajectory_controller
[ERROR] [spawner-6]: process has died [pid 7013, exit code 1, cmd '/opt/ros/humble/lib/controller_manager/spawner joint_trajectory_controller --controller-manager /controller_manager --ros-args -r __node:=spawner_joint_trajectory_controller'].

I am not sure what is the issue.

I have attached my controller config file and launch file.

ros2_controllers.yaml

gazebo.launch.py

[christophfroehlich]

are you starting the simulation in paused mode?