zacro 1.0.13

Fast Rust implementation of xacro with enhanced features for modular robotics

Zacro

Fast Rust implementation of xacro (XML macro language) with enhanced features for modular robotics.

Overview

Zacro is a high-performance Rust implementation of the xacro XML macro language with enhanced features specifically designed for modular robotics applications. It provides:

• Complete macro expansion: Full support for xacro macro definitions and calls
• Formatted output: Optional XML formatting with proper indentation
• Modular robot support: Remove redundant first joints for modular robot assemblies
• High performance: Rust implementation for fast processing of large xacro files
• Python bindings: Easy-to-use Python API with both functional and class-based interfaces

Features

• ✅ Complete macro expansion
• ✅ Property definitions and substitution
• ✅ Mathematical expressions
• ✅ File inclusion with package resolution
• ✅ Formatted XML output
• ✅ Modular robot first joint removal
• ✅ Python bindings
• ✅ Class-based and functional APIs

Installation

pip install zacro

From Source

git clone https://github.com/iory/zacro
cd zacro
pip install maturin
maturin develop --features python

Quick Start

Basic Usage

import zacro

# Process xacro file to URDF
result = zacro.xacro_to_string("robot.xacro")

# Process with formatting
result = zacro.xacro_to_string("robot.xacro", format_output=True)

# Process from string
xml_string = """<?xml version="1.0"?>
<robot xmlns:xacro="http://ros.org/wiki/xacro">
  <xacro:macro name="box" params="name">
    <link name="${name}">
      <visual><geometry><box size="1 1 1"/></geometry></visual>
    </link>
  </xacro:macro>
  <xacro:box name="my_box"/>
</robot>"""

result = zacro.xacro_from_string(xml_string, format_output=True)

Modular Robot Support

For modular robot xacro files where each module has a connection joint to its parent:

# Remove redundant first joints in modular robot assemblies
result = zacro.xacro_to_string(
    "modular_robot.xacro",
    format_output=True,
    remove_first_joint=True
)

Class-based API

processor = zacro.XacroProcessor()
processor.set_format_output(True)
processor.set_remove_first_joint(True)

result = processor.process_file("robot.xacro")

Building

Prerequisites

• Rust 1.70+
• Python 3.8+ (for Python bindings)
• maturin (for Python bindings)

Build Rust Library

cargo build --release

Build Python Extension

maturin develop --features python

Run Tests

cargo test