chore: release 1.4.0

[github-actions]

🤖 I have created a release beep boop

1.4.0 (2026-08-17)

Features

• bundle spatialgeometry as pure-Python (removes external dep) (1b522e6)
• change collision backend from PyBullet to Coal (f99c154)
• docs: add JupyterLite in-browser "Try it Now" deployment (d383f55)
• dynamics: add armature inertia and friction to Robot.rne() (1d55edf)
• et: accept a string joint descriptor in param (jindex/flip parsing) (ab0f794)
• et: rename axis -> kind, add ax for the x/y/z-only concept (8ffc493)
• et: rename eta -> param, keep eta as a deprecated alias (7f0df78)
• ets: rigorous dh/mdh split() convention, sum() support, terser tests (a0674e7)
• models: add Panda DH link centre-of-mass parameters (fc2fe20)
• refactor URDF loading, add Jaco model, fix collision and deepcopy (d8f9289)
• robot model listing cleanup, extended display, sorting option (40c4882)
• robot: add BaseRobot.graph() for multi-format link graph text (fca095c)
• robot: add Robot.fkine_geometry(q) for pure per-part FK (8dbb44e)
• rtbtool: add --test smoke-test flag, fix SG version bug (ae3ba73)
• rtbtool: add 'tool' extra for IPython/pygments, fail with clear message when missing (b791bc8)

Bug Fixes

• 343 array ordering causing fkine traj error (083cdc4)
• 355 add qlim setters (bae653b)
• 361 flipped joint causing Jacobian error (f0ec2f8)
• 366 symbolic printing handled (eeedeae)
• 377 add setitem method to ETS class (3c0e463)
• bdsim blocks and tests (43e89cf)
• ci: stopgap the JupyterLite piplite index wheel-overwrite bug (11a3f29)
• ci: stopgap the JupyterLite piplite index wheel-overwrite bug (695af7b)
• deprecate Bicycle block's vlim/slim kwargs instead of erroring (8d7449c)
• deprecate RangeBearingSensor's animate kwarg instead of erroring (#599) (1885394)
• deps: add coal/trimesh to dev extras (#528) (3bb5847)
• deps: add missing robot_descriptions dependency (#534) (66c40d4)
• deps: don't require coal on Windows, fix stale install docs (#531) (667084a)
• deps: pin robot_descriptions<3.0, UR5 broke on the unpinned major bump (48715b3)
• deps: pin robot_descriptions<3.0, UR5 broke on the unpinned major bump (b00b46b)
• docs: fix intro.rst syntax errors, dangling section, and stale claims (#549) (29ee42b)
• docs: pick a collision-checking example that actually collides (3240822)
• docs: resolve reST syntax and structural Sphinx build warnings (#540) (cd4e997)
• docstrings in robot models (912cc4b)
• drop stale ax= kwarg from ArmPlot's robot.plot() call (#590) (09dba28)
• dynamics: auto-detect symbolic models, fix rne_python()'s per-call dtype selection (c9db413)
• dynamics: fix three bugs in rne_python()'s modified-DH branch (6b28899)
• dynamics: guard Robot.rne() against standard-DH DHRobot instances (13e62a7)
• dynamics: Robot.rne() dropped the rotational inertia tensor (8434fc9)
• dynamics: rotate gravity by robot base in rne(), move handling into ne.c (9a800e0)
• examples: repair ik_speed.py after fknm/frne refactor and API renames (227f854)
• ik: pin seed and tighten tol in flaky ikine tests, document quadratic tol (bc3770a)
• ik: return pre-step q on convergence, not unverified post-step q (3606c3b)
• install swift/spatialgeometry from jhavl upstream, not petercorke's stale forks (#601) (4fd2dff)
• Mesh filename handling (#443) (4f0d3ff)
• mobile: DistanceTransformPlanner.next() calls undefined Error() (e876f58)
• mobile: gate driveto()'s per-step print behind verbose flag (aac83e1)
• mobile: gate driveto()'s per-step print behind verbose flag (ef4853a)
• mobile: gate driveto()'s per-step print behind verbose flag (2115bb3)
• mobile: guard VehicleDriverBase against workspace=None, fix RandomPath docstring example (#541) (901cabb)
• models: add missing URDFRobot.py and Jaco.py (839ab74)
• models: distinguish not-found vs renamed robot_descriptions models (#537) (68da27f)
• models: fall back to robot_descriptions' new naming, hide wrapped dependency on failure (#529) (d8441a3)
• models: fix 3 more addconfiguration() length mismatches surfaced on current main (41ef991)
• models: fix qz configuration size mismatch in px150/rx150/rx200 (a1f10c8)
• models: make KinovaGen3 load via robot_descriptions, add XACRO_ARGS support (#546) (d746ce4)
• models: patch broken upstream RD files for Valkyrie and Fetch (#543) (acb8c6b)
• models: remove FetchCamera, not used in RVC3 and its URDF is unshippable (#545) (17c67d2)
• models: rename list()'s type= param to mtype=, matching stale docs (#542) (c1402f6)
• models: validate addconfiguration() input, fix 5 broken named configs (19dae9a)
• models: validate addconfiguration() input, fix broken named configs (756e101)
• package eigdemo/tripleangledemo/twistdemo entry points correctly (#600) (b19eaa6)
• remove vendored spatialgeometry, restore real dependency (bedf504)
• resolve all 9 Sphinx build warnings (#610) (0437ae6)
• rtb-data: add missing rtb-data package config and data files (aaff234)
• rtbtool's %precision line spuriously echoes its own return value (#592) (40198dc)
• rtbtool: don't let spatialgeometry's Path shadow pathlib.Path (f061415)
• rtbtool: fix arg-parsing bugs and converge CLI with mvtbtool (#557) (b111856)
• ShapePlot uses SG Shape.base (removed) instead of .T for pose (#595) (638d673)
• test: give test_isspherical its own link instances per robot (8dfd09a)
• tests: fix Python 3.10-only mock.patch AttributeError in fknm fallback tests (#539) (38be2c4)
• test: specify encoding=utf-8 when reading BaseRobot.py/pyproject.toml (#548) (ea4acff)
• tests: skip test_collision.py cases that require coal (#538) (fc51bc2)
• URDF parser (39f14a0)
• use spatialgeometry's correctly-spelled _propagate_scene_tree() (d0fad96)
• use spatialgeometry's new update() method, not the deprecated alias (972ff0d)
• xacro: use quoteattr for attribute serialization (Python 3.14) (34bb4e2), closes #511

Performance Improvements

• dynamics: add symbolic-aware C dispatch check, safety net, batch trajectories into one C call (c2bd405)

Documentation

• add AGENTS.md stub linking to rvc-ecosystem conventions (#591) (870c840)
• add desiderata (design principles) (104671e)
• adopt rvc-ecosystem Sphinx footer and extension conventions (#606) (755614a)
• describe robot_descriptions integration and catalog() (#608) (f759fa4)
• desiderata: move joint vel/accel limits under actuator params (1325bb3)
• dynamics: housekeeping and write up the full investigation in rne.md (c00af8c)
• fix dead wiki/Common-Issues links, point at wiki/FAQ (#609) (fae8c27)
• fix repeated typos in IK/DHRobot/RobotKinematics/mobile docstrings (8780374)
• fix: resolve stale jointset references and joints() forward-ref warning (298f4c0)
• fix: resolve stale jointset references and joints() forward-ref warning (4531d93)
• fix: update stale roboticstoolbox.robot.ETS references to ets package (2e9f2cd)
• intro: restructure into arm/mobile robots, spatial math, history (8d438d0)
• make sphinx invocation portable for CI (5854c42)
• modernize issue/PR templates to match MVTB's community-health rollout (#607) (0b9f0c5)
• README update (e691441)
• readme: rework top section, references, TOC, and wasm wheel docs (f169546)
• record 1.3.1 in release-please manifest and CHANGELOG (#532) (dfb38c2)
• restructure intro.rst, add JupyterLite deployment, rework README (53222a4)
• tech-debt: consolidate rtb-data entries, document LBR/Valkyrie/Fetch findings (#544) (8ac586d)
• tech-debt: note rtb-data auto-publish idea (c3cfcb2)
• tech-debt: record deferred IKProtocol idea, ahead of the /ets split (73fee37)
• tech-debt: record fknm nanobind leak on background-thread creation (c5b80b3)
• tech-debt: record post-merge CI findings (fknm 3.10, collision skip gap, flaky IK) (#535) (174d9da)
• tech-debt: record vendored spatialgeometry vs external @future install (0ed3f81)
• test: clarify test_isspherical's fix is a workaround, not a rule (6994fad)
• track docs/source/_templates/layout.html (#603) (c2be132)

Build System

• deps: bump actions/checkout from 6 to 7 (#522) (65feed3)
• deps: bump actions/deploy-pages from 4 to 5 (c384502)
• deps: bump actions/download-artifact from 4 to 8 (69be126)
• deps: bump actions/setup-python from 6 to 7 (2e31d0f)
• deps: bump actions/upload-pages-artifact from 3 to 5 (#521) (874e4a5)
• deps: bump amannn/action-semantic-pull-request from 5 to 6 (#525) (9acab8b)
• deps: bump codecov/codecov-action from 6 to 7 (33690a0)
• deps: bump googleapis/release-please-action from 4 to 5 (#524) (a5e59ed)
• deps: bump pypa/cibuildwheel from 3.4.1 to 4.1.1 (4a0b377)
• deps: bump softprops/action-gh-release from 2 to 3 (#523) (1e6183f)
• exclude rtb-data subdir from sdist (e45363d)
• remove rules for pushing to PyPI, now done by GH actions. (569fedd)
• setup proper release process (d0e0559)

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