Robot URDF Studio

No robotics experience needed

Your first robot starts here.

Pick a robot, make it your size and watch it move. When you’re ready, take it home: you get everything to run it on your own computer, with every step explained in plain words.

Make my first robot How does it work?
  • Free
  • Nothing to install to start
  • Every word explained

Meet the robots

How it works

From zero to a working robot, in four steps

You don’t need to know anything yet. Each step takes a few minutes, and you can’t break anything.

  1. Pick a robot

    Wheels, an arm, or a body like ours. Not sure? Start with the 2-wheel rover.

  2. Make it yours

    Change its size with simple number boxes. You’ll see it change in 3D right away.

    Try it →

  3. Give it a world

    A factory, a warehouse, an office, or a world of your own: upload any Gazebo .sdf file.

  4. Take it home

    Download one folder that runs on your computer, with a guide that tells you exactly what to type.

    See the download →

Why robotics

Robots are already everywhere. They need people like you.

Companies everywhere are looking for people who can design, build and test robots. Every one of those people started with a first robot model, just like the one you’ll make today.

Warehouses

Robots carry shelves, move boxes and pack orders.

Hospitals

Robot arms help surgeons and deliver medicine.

Farms

Robots pick fruit and check on crops, row by row.

Homes

Robot vacuums and helpers learn to find their way around.

Robot words, made simple

You’ll see these words. Here’s what they mean.

URDF “your-dif”
Your robot’s blueprint: its parts, their sizes and how they connect.
ROS 2
The common language robot parts use to talk to each other.
Gazebo
A practice world, like a video game, where your robot moves with real physics.
RViz
A window that shows what your robot sees and how it is moving.
MoveIt
A planner that works out how an arm should move to reach something.
Joint
The part that lets a robot bend, turn or slide, like your elbow or a wheel’s axle.

Help

You won’t be stuck. We’ll help you.

A guide in every download

Step-by-step instructions written for beginners, with fixes for common problems.

Commands you can copy

No guessing what to type. Copy, paste, press Enter.

Do I need to know how to code?

No. You can design, preview and download your robot without writing any code. To run it on your computer, you copy and paste a few commands we give you.

What do I need on my computer?

To design your robot: just this website. To run the simulation: a computer with Ubuntu Linux and ROS 2, both free. The guide in your download shows you how to install them.

Is it free?

Yes. Everything on this website is free to use.

Can this become a real robot?

Yes. The blueprint you download (a URDF file) is the same kind of file real robot teams use. Many real robots start as a simulation like this one.

What if something goes wrong?

Every download has a guide with fixes for common problems. If you’re still stuck, ask on our GitHub page and we’ll help.

Every robotics engineer started with a first robot. Make yours today.

It takes about ten minutes, and you’ll have a robot moving on your screen.

Make my first robot

Let’s build

Make your first robot

Four short steps. Everything updates as you go, and nothing can break.

1Choose the robot

Start with any robot. You can switch at any time.

2Describe its dimensions

Type new numbers or keep ours. Sizes are in metres (1 m is about 3.3 ft) and weights in kilograms.

Grid 0.1 m · axes x y z (ROS REP-103)

Move joints

Checks

    3Choose where to launch it

    RViz only shows your robot. Gazebo lets it move in a world with real physics. Then pick the world it lives in.

    Gazebo world
     
     
     
     
     
    4Download the package
     
    This is your robot, ready to take home. Unzip it and follow README.md one step at a time.