Protocol Performance in Robotics: Analyzing ADS vs. UDP Protocols for ROS2 and TwinCAT Integration

The adoption of robots for everyday tasks has surged, fueled by technological advancements. Contemporary robotic designs focus on expanding operational workspaces, enhancing flexibility, and overcoming challenges such as singularities. Successful task execution depends on the effective integration of robust hardware and software. Key hardware considerations include the design of links for reach and the connection of joints to motors, drivers, and sensors. The software serves as an interface for controlling these components and must accurately reflect the robot’s kinematics. Effective communication between hardware and software is essential for optimal operation. While commercial software often conflicts with unconventional robotic designs, open-source solutions like Robot Operating System (ROS) provide greater flexibility and a wide range of tools, although they can encounter difficulties in interfacing with commercial hardware. This paper evaluates two communication protocols, Automation Device Specification (ADS) and User Data-gram Protocol (UDP), for integrating ROS2 with the commercial software TwinCAT from Beckhoff. The integration was assessed using both ADS and UDP protocols, with UDP demonstrating superior effectiveness. Then, the integration was applied in a real robot. The system employs ROS2 tools such as RVIZ2 for real-time monitoring and MoveIt2 for inverse kinematics calculations, while TwinCAT receives information from ROS2 through the UDP protocol and sends it to the drivers. This study highlights the critical importance of choosing appropriate communication protocols for advanced robotic systems. By confirming UDP’s enhanced performance in practical scenarios, this research lays the groundwork for future developments in robotics that require seamless integration between hardware and software.