RTDE

Universal Robots' real-time interface that lets external programs read arm state and send commands.

RTDE is a communication interface built into Universal Robots (UR) controllers. An external computer connects over TCP/IP and can synchronously read state — joint angles, end-effector pose, torques — at a fixed rate, and also write to input registers; e-Series controllers support up to 500 Hz. It solves the problem of a host computer needing to exchange data with the arm at high, stable rates, and is more structured than the older ports 30001–30003. The most widely used community tool is ur_rtde, an open-source C++/Python library from the University of Southern Denmark, which wraps commands like moveL and servoJ directly; many real-robot VLA deployments use it to control UR arms.

ExampleUse ur_rtde's RTDEReceiveInterface to read a UR5e's current joint angles at 500 Hz, then use RTDEControlInterface's servoJ to stream a policy's target joint angles to the arm.

Also called

Real-Time Data Exchange, ur_rtde

Related

Universal Robots UR5e · Universal Robots · Streaming Servo Control · Software Development Kit · libfranka / Franka Control Interface (FCI) · Host Computer

Sources

Universal Robots: Real-Time Data Exchange (RTDE) Guide
ur_rtde documentation (SDU Robotics)