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urdf_launch

  • Software
  • Middleware
  • Tool

A ROS 2 package of launch files that loads a URDF or Xacro robot model and publishes its description, with an optional RViz display for model development.

Made by ROS core stacks.

Source on GitHub: github.com/ros/urdf_launch (opens in a new tab). Facts read at commit ec0ed1b (opens in a new tab).

Licenses

Code
BSD-3-Clause (opens in a new tab)

Read by Robotheca from LICENSE (opens in a new tab) (BSD-3-Clause) at commit ec0ed1b (opens in a new tab), on 16 Oct 2026.

Commercial use
Yes

What it does

  • Loads a URDF/Xacro robot model as a parameter, selected through launch arguments.
  • Starts robot_state_publisher with the model so the robot description is available as a topic.
  • Reduces the setup in a custom launch file to a few lines by including its description launch file.
  • Provides a display launch file that also opens RViz with a preconfigured setup.
  • The display launch file also starts a joint state publisher, with an optional GUI.
  • Can be run from the command line by passing the URDF package and file path as arguments.

Written by Robotheca from the project's README (opens in a new tab) at commit ec0ed1b.

Getting started

Difficulty
Beginner

Maintenance

Status
Maintained: a commit in the last 12 months
Newest commit
7 Apr 2026 on main
Latest release
None published on GitHub

Checked on GitHub on 16 Oct 2026.

Links

Robots that can run it

No robot on Robotheca is linked to it yet. Links come from a robot's robot.yaml, from its dependency files read as text, or from Robotheca's editors.

Robotheca lists software as a reference: nothing is hosted or run here, and every fact links to where it was read.