pick_ik

pick_ik is an inverse kinematics (IK) solver compatible with MoveIt 2.

The solver is a reimplementation of bio_ik, which combines:

• A local optimizer which solves inverse kinematics via gradient descent
• A global optimizer based on evolutionary algorithms

Critically, pick_ik allows you to specify custom cost functions as discussed in this paper, so you can prioritize additional objectives than simply solving inverse kinematics at a specific frame. For example, you can minimize joint displacement from the initial guess, enforce that joints are close to a particular pose, or even pass custom cost functions to the plugin.

If you are familiar with bio_ik, the functionality in this package includes:

• Reimplementation of the memetic solver (equivalent to bio1 and bio2_memetic solvers)
• Reimplementation of the numeric gradient descent solvers (equivalent to gd, gd_r, and gd_c solvers)
• Fully configurable number of threads if using the global solver
• Cost functions on joint displacement, joint centering, and avoiding joint limits

For more details on the implementation, take a look at the paper or the full thesis.

Getting Started

To get started using pick_ik, refer to the following README files:

• Installation
• Usage
• MoveIt Tutorial

Changelog for package pick_ik

1.1.3 (2026-08-03)

• Migrate from tl_expected to libexpected-dev system package (#81) cpp_polyfills 2.0 dropped its tl_expected sub-package, so the tl_expected rosdep key no longer resolves on Ubuntu Resolute. Depend on libexpected-dev instead, which is available on jammy, noble and resolute alike. Required for lyrical and rolling.
• Rolling/lyrical: tf2 .hpp header renames + pick_ik include prefix (#82)
• ci: switch from custom-container CI to industrial_ci (#83) The pre-baked CI container was frozen at its 2023-12 build and its weekly rebuild had been failing and then auto-disabled, so every PR for the past two years was tested against an environment that no longer exists. industrial_ci installs dependencies fresh per run and follows each distro's current base OS, matching the buildfarm and the rest of the MoveIt/PickNik release matrix. Rolling now builds against ros2-testing on Resolute, and git is declared as a test_depend for the Catch2 FetchContent step.
• Contributors: LarsNobleo, Nathan Brooks

1.1.2 (2026-06-26)

• Adds header file for pick_ik_plugin (#79)
• Contributors: Mark Johnson

1.1.1 (2024-11-30)

• Initialize with the best seed instead of initial seed at population wipeout (#77)
• Fix timeout calculation if solution callback fails (#73)
• Remove incorrect override of tip_frames (#68)
• Contributors: Amal Nanavati, Sebastian Castro, Timon Engelke

1.1.0 (2023-12-13)

• Support continuous (unbounded) joints properly (#59)
• Run elite gradient descent in separate threads (#61)
• Contributors: Sebastian Castro

1.0.2 (2023-07-25)

• New options to control solution quality and performance

  • Option to rerun optimization until valid solution or timeout (#53)
  • Option to keep optimizing after a valid solution was found (#46)
  • Approximate solution cost threshold (#51) and joint jump threshold parameters (#42)
  • Position scale parameter (#47)

• Fix ordering of joint limits when loading robot model (#54)

• Fix use of solution callback (#48)

• Remove unnecessary preprocessor macro (#40)

• Contributors: Marc Bestmann, Sebastian Castro, Erik Holum

1.0.1 (2023-03-28)

• Set Werror through CMake presets (#39)

• Replace lower_bounds with gt_eq (#37)

• Upgrade with new pkgs to fix issue with ROS

• Target include subdirectory

• Update Catch2 version to 3.3.0

• Fix overriding of package

• Fix orientation calculation in cost function and frame tests (#31)

  • Fix orientation calculation
  • Update plugin return values
  • Remove redundant (and incorrect) joints bounds check

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