# Can I use effort\_controllers/joint\_position\_controller for trajectory rather than effort\_controllers/joint\_trajectory\_controller?

**URL:** <https://get-help.theconstruct.ai/t/can-i-use-effort-controllers-joint-position-controller-for-trajectory-rather-than-effort-controllers-joint-trajectory-controller/21778>\
**Category:** General Support\
**Tags:** ros\_controllers, joint\_position\_contr\
**Created:** [January 20, 2023, 8:16am UTC](https://get-help.theconstruct.ai/t/can-i-use-effort-controllers-joint-position-controller-for-trajectory-rather-than-effort-controllers-joint-trajectory-controller/21778 "2023-01-20T08:16:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![mikellasa](https://get-help.theconstruct.ai/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@mikellasa](https://get-help.theconstruct.ai/u/mikellasa)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 8:16am UTC](https://get-help.theconstruct.ai/t/can-i-use-effort-controllers-joint-position-controller-for-trajectory-rather-than-effort-controllers-joint-trajectory-controller/21778/1 "2023-01-20T08:16:12Z")

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Hello,

I made the ros\_control course and I have learnt a lot, so now I can use it for my own stuff. In the course the custom controller is a effort\_controllers/joint\_position\_controller so a position is published for the RRbot.

I did some research about other controller types in ros and found a effort\_controllers/joint\_trajectory\_controller where its supposed to execute a trajectories. Starting from this course, I would like to make another step executing a simple trajectory for this rrbot. My question is:

As join\_trajectory\_controller is supposed to command a group of controllers (ros documentation says that), If I want to command just joint1, should I still use the effort\_controllers/joint\_position\_controller or change it to the effort\_controllers/joint\_trajectory\_controller?

Maybe this is an off-course topic but I did a research and havent found information about this… Thanks in advance if somebody can help me!

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**Author:** ![albertoezquerro](https://get-help.theconstruct.ai/user_avatar/get-help.theconstruct.ai/albertoezquerro/32/7031_2.png) [@albertoezquerro](https://get-help.theconstruct.ai/u/albertoezquerro)\
**Post date:** [January 20, 2023, 8:33am UTC](https://get-help.theconstruct.ai/t/can-i-use-effort-controllers-joint-position-controller-for-trajectory-rather-than-effort-controllers-joint-trajectory-controller/21778/2 "2023-01-20T08:33:51Z")

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Hello @mikellasa ,

Your conclusions are correct. It doesn’t make much sense to use a joint trajectory controller to command a single joint so, in this case, it makes more sense to simply use a joint\_position\_controller.

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**Author:** ![bayodesegun](https://get-help.theconstruct.ai/user_avatar/get-help.theconstruct.ai/bayodesegun/32/10684_2.png) [@bayodesegun](https://get-help.theconstruct.ai/u/bayodesegun)\
**Post date:** [January 23, 2023, 11:25am UTC](https://get-help.theconstruct.ai/t/can-i-use-effort-controllers-joint-position-controller-for-trajectory-rather-than-effort-controllers-joint-trajectory-controller/21778/3 "2023-01-23T11:25:29Z")

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