urdf_parser_py
- Software
- Middleware
- Library
A Python library for reading URDF robot description files, the XML format used to describe a robot's links and joints. It is a Python parser of URDF, built on lxml.
Made by ROS core stacks.
Source on GitHub: github.com/ros/urdf_parser_py (opens in a new tab). Facts read at commit a0e5291 (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 a0e5291 (opens in a new tab), on 16 Oct 2026.
- Commercial use
- Yes
What it does
- Parses URDF robot description files into Python objects.
- Uses a reflection-based structure, borrowed from Gazebo's SDF format, to make the parser easier to extend.
- Can dump parsed robot descriptions to YAML for printing as a string.
- Supports Gazebo transmission and basic Gazebo elements.
- Moved XML parsing from minidom to lxml.etree.
- Loading methods were reworked into instance methods and renamed from parse_xml to from_xml.
Written by Robotheca from the project's README (opens in a new tab) at commit a0e5291.
Getting started
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- How to start
- The project's README (opens in a new tab)
Maintenance
- Status
- Maintained: a commit in the last 12 months
- Newest commit
- 18 Dec 2025 on ros2
- 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.