How can I create a primitive with specific material using the MeshcatVisualizer

[lwygzh]

Hi,

I am trying to visualize my robot trajectory using the MeshcatVisualizer provided by pinocchio.

This is what I am currently doing

import hppfcl
import numpy as np
import pinocchio

robot = pinocchio.RobotWrapper.BuildFromURDF(robot_urdf, package_dir)

box = hppfcl.Box(1, 1, 1)
placement = pinocchio.SE3(np.eye(3), np.array([0.8, 0.7, 0.5]))
geom_obj = pinocchio.GeometryObject("box", 0, 0, box, placement)
geom_obj.meshColor = np.array([1.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0])
robot.visual_model.addGeometryObject(geom_obj)

viz = pinocchio.MeshcatVisualizer(robot.model, robot.collision_model, robot.visual_model)

However, the box object does not consider any reflection. I was wondering if there is a way to set the material of the box to something like

meshcat.geometry.MeshPhongMaterial(color=0xff0000, specular=0x111111, shininess=30)

Additionally, I noticed that pinocchio.GeometryObject is now deprecated. Is there a replacement?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[jorisv]

Hello @lwygzh,

Where did you see that pinocchio.GeometryObject is deprecated ?

It's not possible right now to attach custom material to an object.

I see two options :

• Add a method to BaseVisualizer to add custom GeometryObject with a Material as optional parameters
• Add a material attribute to GeometryObject

[lwygzh]

@jorisv Thanks for the response!

When I run

Python 3.8.15 | packaged by conda-forge | (default, Nov 22 2022, 08:49:06)
[Clang 14.0.6 ] on darwin
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> import pinocchio as pin
>>> pin.GeometryObject
<class 'pinocchio.deprecated.GeometryObject'>

Since GeometryObject belongs to pinocchio.deprecated I thought it was deprecated.

The second option looks more appealing to me.

[jorisv]

@lwygzh Apparently the method GeometyObject.fcl() is deprecated.
To add the deprecated decorator to this method, we redefine GeometryObject in the deprecated module.
This doesn't mean that GeometryObject is deprecated (only the fcl method is).

I will discuss the GeometryObject modification with my colleagues and open an issue if they accept it.

[lwygzh]

Thanks!