Popular
upstream
manipulator
UR5e
Universal Robots collaborative arm - 6-DOF industrial manipulator widely used in manufacturing and research.
6-DOFCollaborativeIndustrial
Curated upstream robot model sources
URDF robot models
Browse public upstream repositories that contain URDF and Xacro robot descriptions. Compare sources for ROS, Gazebo, and simulation.
terminal://urdfhub
┌───────────────────────┐ │ ██╗ ██╗ ██████╗ │ │ ██║ ██║ ██╔══██╗ │ │ ██║ ██║ ██████╔╝ │ │ ██║ ██║ ██╔══██╗ │ │ ╚██████╔╝ ██║ ██║ │ │ ╚═════╝ ╚═╝ ╚═╝ DF HUB │ │ │ │ > sources: 8 featured │ │ > files: upstream │ └───────────────────────┘┌─────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ ██╗ ██╗ ██████╗ ██████╗ ███████╗ │ │ ██║ ██║ ██╔══██╗ ██╔═██║ ██╔════╝ │ │ ██║ ██║ ██████╔╝ ██║ ██║ █████╗ │ │ ██║ ██║ ██╔══██╗ ██║ ██║ ██╔══╝ │ │ ╚█████╔╝ ██║ ██║ ██████║ ██║ │ │ ╚════╝ ╚═╝ ╚═╝ ╚═════╝ ╚═╝ HUB │ │ │ │ > model sources: 8 featured │ │ > formats: URDF, XACRO │ │ > files: linked upstream │ │ │ └─────────────────────────────────────┘
ROS 2
Gazebo Ready
Format overview
What is URDF?
URDF stands for Unified Robot Description Format. It is an XML format used in ROS to describe one robot's links, joints, visual geometry, collision geometry, and inertial properties. ROS tools parse that model to visualize the robot, publish its transform tree, and prepare it for planning or simulation workflows.
A URDF file is a model description, not a complete simulator project. Mesh files, controllers, launch files, plugins, and simulator-specific settings usually live beside it in a ROS package. Xacro can generate URDF from reusable macros, while SDF can describe richer simulator worlds with multiple models.
minimal.urdf
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<robot name="example_robot">
<link name="base_link">
<visual>
<geometry>
<box size="0.4 0.3 0.2"/>
</geometry>
</visual>
</link>
</robot>This defines one link and its visual shape. Simulation normally also needs collision and inertial data.
Robot Models
Featured URDFs
URDF Hub links to upstream repositories; it does not mirror their files. Check each source's branch, license, dependencies, and supported ROS distribution before use.
upstream
manipulator
Franka Panda
7-DOF research manipulator with torque sensors. Popular in academic robotics research.
7-DOFResearchTorque Control
upstream
mobile
TurtleBot3 Burger
Compact differential drive mobile robot. Perfect for ROS education and SLAM experiments.
DifferentialSLAMEducation
community
quadruped
Spot
Boston Dynamics quadruped robot. Community-maintained URDF for simulation.
QuadrupedLeggedDynamic
upstream
mobile-manipulator
Fetch Mobile Manipulator
Mobile manipulation platform combining a mobile base with a 7-DOF arm.
Mobile7-DOF ArmPick-Place
upstream
quadruped
Unitree Go1
Affordable quadruped robot for research and education. Highly dynamic locomotion.
QuadrupedDynamicResearch
community
manipulator
KUKA iiwa 14
7-DOF lightweight robot with integrated torque sensors in each axis.
7-DOFTorque SensingIndustrial
upstream
mobile
Clearpath Husky
Rugged outdoor mobile robot platform for field robotics research.
OutdoorSkid-SteerField
Why URDF Hub
A clearer path to
upstream robot sources
Start from a relevant upstream source, then validate its robot description against your ROS distribution, simulator, and licensing requirements.
Upstream Sources
Go to the public repository maintained by the vendor, ROS project, or community author instead of an untracked file mirror.
Compatibility Context
See the robot type and source repository, then verify its documented ROS distribution and simulator support upstream.
Community Suggestions
Request another public model source or flag a stale link through the URDF Hub GitHub issue tracker.
Practical Categories
Browse manipulators, mobile robots, and quadrupeds without assuming that every repository uses the same package structure.
Verification Checklist
Inspect licenses, mesh paths, joint limits, collision geometry, inertias, and launch arguments before using a model in production.
License Aware
Every upstream repository sets its own license and terms. Review them at the source before research, education, or commercial use.
Get Started
Three steps to
robot simulation
01
Browse
Choose a robot type and open the linked upstream repository maintained by its vendor, ROS project, or community author.
# Start with the source repository # linked from each model card
02
Inspect
Read the README and license. Confirm the branch, ROS distribution, dependencies, mesh paths, and Xacro arguments.
find . -type f \ \( -name '*.urdf' -o -name '*.xacro' \)
03
Validate
Follow the upstream package instructions. Visualize the model, resolve resources, and verify collision and inertia before simulation.
# Use the launch command documented # by the upstream maintainer
Have a robot model to share?
Suggest its public source repository. Include the maintainer, license, supported ROS distribution, and the path to its URDF or Xacro package.