kinforge 1.1.1

Forge robot and world models from structured JSON specs

Kinforge

Kinforge is a compiler that generates robot and world models (SDF / URDF) from structured, versioned JSON specifications.

It is designed to:

• separate model intent from simulator formats
• produce deterministic, testable output
• support multi-robot and multi-instance worlds
• evolve safely via schema versioning

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Why Kinforge?

URDF and SDF are:

• verbose
• error-prone
• hard to version
• difficult to refactor

Kinforge lets you describe what the robot is, not how SDF is written.

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Features

• Versioned JSON schemas (v0, v1)
• Canonical internal representation (IR)
• SDF exporter (Gazebo)
• URDF exporter (ROS-compatible)
• Deterministic output
• Frame support (tool0, mounts)
• Joint limits
• Default joint states (v1)
• Golden-file testing

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Installation

pip install kinforge

For development:

git clone https://github.com/kinforge-dev/kinforge
cd kinforge
pip install -e .

Shell Completion

Kinforge supports shell tab completion via argcomplete.

Bash

pip install argcomplete
activate-global-python-argcomplete

Quick start

kinforge build examples/kuka_like_arm_v1.json --out arm.sdf

# Output
arm.sdf
kinforge build examples/kuka_like_arm_v1.json --out arm.sdf

If you have Gazebo (Fortress or above) installed, you can view the model:

gz sdf -p simple_arm.sdf

Philosophy

Kinforge treats robot models as compiled artifacts, not hand-written XML.

It is designed to be:

• predictable

• composable

• testable

• extensible

Schema Design

More read here.

Design Decisions

More read here.