Long-Term Home for URDF XML Format Specification (related to ROS 1 Wiki EOL)

[AlnisS-ptc]

Issue Type

• 🐛 Bug / Problem
• ✏️ Typo / Grammar
• 📖 Outdated Content
• 🚀 Enhancement

Generated by Generative AI

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Distribution

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Description

The Tutorials / Intermediate / URDF page of docs.ros.org contains the following:

URDF (Unified Robot Description Format) is a file format for specifying the geometry and organization of robots in ROS. A URDF file follows the XML format as described on here.

The link to the URDF XML format specification points to wiki.ros.org, which has the following banner:

The last ROS 1 release Noetic will go end of life on May 31st with that the ROS Wiki (this website) will also be EOL and transition to being an archive. Maintainers:Please migrate any wiki content into your package's README.md file. If you need more help on migrating code please see this migration guide. Or watch Shane's Lightning Talk from ROSCon 2024.

So, the current home of the URDF XML format is in an EOL/archived location.

Additionally, https://github.com/ros/urdfdom describes features in URDF 1.1 which are not documented in the current ROS Wiki (e.g. quat_xyzw attribute and <capsule> geometry), so it is unclear where implementers of the URDF format may find the latest format specification to ensure compatibility with the ROS ecosystem.

Affected Pages/Sections

https://docs.ros.org/en/rolling/Tutorials/Intermediate/URDF/URDF-Main.html

Screenshots or Examples (if applicable)

No response

Suggested Fix

Consolidate definitive URDF documentation, including XML format specification, into a long-term home that is not EOL/archived.

Additional Context

I am happy to work on consolidating URDF format specifications and documentation. For example, if the solution is to write consolidated documentation in the ROS 2 docs, I can do that.

However, I want to reach out first through an issue to make sure I am not duplicating an existing effort or missing something about how the URDF documentation and specifications are organized. Additionally, this would be my first contribution to the ROS documentation, so I want to make sure I am following proper procedures and protocols.

Thank you in advance for your time and help!