diff --git a/collada_urdf/include/collada_urdf/collada_urdf.h b/collada_urdf/include/collada_urdf/collada_urdf.h
index 558e51f..ae7ed8f 100644
--- a/collada_urdf/include/collada_urdf/collada_urdf.h
+++ b/collada_urdf/include/collada_urdf/collada_urdf.h
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 /*********************************************************************
 * Software License Agreement (BSD License)
 * 
-*  Copyright (c) 2010, Willow Garage, Inc., University of Tokyo
+*  Copyright (c) 2010, Willow Garage, Inc.
 *  All rights reserved.
 * 
 *  Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
 *  POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
 *********************************************************************/
 
-/* Authors: Tim Field, Rosen Diankov */
+/* Authors: Tim Field */
 
 #ifndef COLLADA_URDF_COLLADA_URDF_H
 #define COLLADA_URDF_COLLADA_URDF_H
@@ -50,20 +50,33 @@ public:
     ColladaUrdfException(std::string const& what);
 };
 
-enum WriteOptions
-{
-    WO_IgnoreCollisionGeometry = 1, ///< if set, will use only the visual geometry
-};
-
-/** Construct a COLLADA DOM from an URDF model
-    
-    \param robot_model The initialized robot model
-    \param dom The resulting COLLADA DOM
-    \param writeoptions A combination of \ref WriteOptions 
-    
-    \return true on success, false on failure
+/** Construct a COLLADA DOM from an URDF file
+ * \param file The filename from where to read the URDF
+ * \param dom The resulting COLLADA DOM
+ * \return true on success, false on failure
  */
-bool colladaFromUrdfModel(const urdf::Model& robot_model, boost::shared_ptr<DAE>& dom, int writeoptions=0);
+bool colladaFromUrdfFile(std::string const& file, boost::shared_ptr<DAE>& dom);
+
+/** Construct a COLLADA DOM from a string containing URDF
+ * \param xml A string containing the XML description of the robot
+ * \param dom The resulting COLLADA DOM
+ * \return true on success, false on failure
+ */
+bool colladaFromUrdfString(std::string const& xml, boost::shared_ptr<DAE>& dom);
+
+/** Construct a COLLADA DOM from a TiXmlDocument containing URDF
+ * \param xml_doc The TiXmlDocument containing URDF
+ * \param dom The resulting COLLADA DOM
+ * \return true on success, false on failure
+ */
+bool colladaFromUrdfXml(TiXmlDocument* xml_doc, boost::shared_ptr<DAE>& dom);
+
+/** Construct a COLLADA DOM from a URDF robot model
+ * \param robot_model The URDF robot model
+ * \param dom The resulting COLLADA DOM
+ * \return true on success, false on failure
+ */
+bool colladaFromUrdfModel(urdf::Model const& robot_model, boost::shared_ptr<DAE>& dom);
 
 /** Write a COLLADA DOM to a file
  * \param dom COLLADA DOM to write
diff --git a/collada_urdf/src/collada_urdf.cpp b/collada_urdf/src/collada_urdf.cpp
index 2671187..6e85bc6 100644
--- a/collada_urdf/src/collada_urdf.cpp
+++ b/collada_urdf/src/collada_urdf.cpp
@@ -1225,14 +1225,44 @@ private:
     Assimp::Importer _importer;
 };
 
+
 ColladaUrdfException::ColladaUrdfException(std::string const& what)
     : std::runtime_error(what)
 {
 }
 
-bool colladaFromUrdfModel(const urdf::Model& robot_model, boost::shared_ptr<DAE>& dom, int writeoptions)
-{
-    ColladaWriter writer(robot_model,writeoptions);
+bool colladaFromUrdfFile(string const& file, boost::shared_ptr<DAE>& dom) {
+    TiXmlDocument urdf_xml;
+    if (!urdf_xml.LoadFile(file)) {
+        ROS_ERROR("Could not load XML file");
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    return colladaFromUrdfXml(&urdf_xml, dom);
+}
+
+bool colladaFromUrdfString(string const& xml, boost::shared_ptr<DAE>& dom) {
+    TiXmlDocument urdf_xml;
+    if (urdf_xml.Parse(xml.c_str()) == 0) {
+        ROS_ERROR("Could not parse XML document");
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    return colladaFromUrdfXml(&urdf_xml, dom);
+}
+
+bool colladaFromUrdfXml(TiXmlDocument* xml_doc, boost::shared_ptr<DAE>& dom) {
+    urdf::Model robot_model;
+    if (!robot_model.initXml(xml_doc)) {
+        ROS_ERROR("Could not generate robot model");
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    return colladaFromUrdfModel(robot_model, dom);
+}
+
+bool colladaFromUrdfModel(urdf::Model const& robot_model, boost::shared_ptr<DAE>& dom) {
+    ColladaWriter writer(robot_model,0);
     dom = writer.convert();
     return dom != boost::shared_ptr<DAE>();
 }