Virtual and remote laboratory for robot manipulator control study (original) (raw)

MATLAB-based Robot Control Design Environment for Research and Education

SNE Simulation Notes Europe, 2010

Research in the field of robotics is tightly connected to simulation tools for many reasons. On one side, simulation supports the development of new advanced control algorithms and on the other side it is always not feasible to build a whole robot system to test some algorithms or it is not safe to perform tests on a real system (at least in the first design stages). In the paper we present an integrated environment for the design and testing of advanced robot control schemes, including visual tracking, force feedback on a single robot or in multi-robot applications. The kernel of our simulation environment is MATLAB/Simulink. The main capabilities are: the simulation of the kinematics and dynamics of manipulators, the integration of different sensor systems like vision and force sensors, scenarios for complex robot tasks, the visualization of robots and their environment and the integration of real robots in the simulation loop. The advantage of our system is the simplicity, which allows easy integration of different robots, sensors and other devices. Some of these can be easier simulated by using other tools. Hence, other simulation tools can be used for the simulation of different parts of the system and then these subsystems are integrated in out simulation environment. The other important feature is easy final testing of developed control algorithms. Namely, for final testing of the control algorithms the models in the simulation scheme are just replaced by interface blocks for real system and the user does not need to consider implementation details. Finally, to show the efficiency and usability of our control design environment we outline some typical experimental examples using our robots. We explain some typical control design procedures from the "pure" simulation to the testing of algorithms on real robots.

Control and robotics remote laboratory for engineering education

The new tools for education of engineering emerged and one of the most promising is a remote rapid control prototyping (RRCP), which is very useful also for control and robotics development in industry and in education. Examples of introductory remote control and simple robotics courses with integrated hands on experiments are presented in the paper. The aim of integration of remote hands on experiments into control and/or robotics course is to minimize the gap between the theory and practice to teach students the use of RRCP and to decrease the education costs. Developed RRCP experiments are based on MATLAB/Simulink, xPC target, custom developed embedded target for DSP-2 controller and LabVIEW virtual instrument.

Virtual and Remote Robotic Laboratory Using EJS, MATLAB and LabVIEW

Sensors, 2013

This paper describes the design and implementation of a virtual and remote laboratory based on Easy Java Simulations (EJS) and LabVIEW. The main application of this laboratory is to improve the study of sensors in Mobile Robotics, dealing with the problems that arise on the real world experiments. This laboratory allows the user to work from their homes, tele-operating a real robot that takes measurements from its sensors in order to obtain a map of its environment. In addition, the application allows interacting with a robot simulation (virtual laboratory) or with a real robot (remote laboratory), with the same simple and intuitive graphical user interface in EJS. Thus, students can develop signal processing and control algorithms for the robot in simulation and then deploy them on the real robot for testing purposes. Practical examples of application of the laboratory on the inter-University Master of Systems Engineering and Automatic Control are presented.

Virtual Laboratory of Robotics

2015

In frame of the project KEGA 027STU-4/2014 at our institute, we are building a virtual laboratory of robotics. The main objective is to build a laboratory together with a set of training modules in the field of automation and industrial robotics that will serve to teach the principles of automatic control of manipulation and programming of industrial robots, which are now increasingly implemented in production practice. Built laboratory will develop the knowledge and expertise of students in the field of automated and robotic systems, application of innovative educational program and methodology of using modern technologies, including CA and e-learning.

Matlab RTW-based Internet Accessible Remote Laboratory for Teaching Robot Control

Scalable E-Learning Tools for Engineering and Science Disciplines, 2012

This chapter describes the use of Matlab Real Time Workshop (RTW) for implementing an Internet Accessible Laboratory (IAL) for teaching robot control. The IAL architecture consists of three key components-IAL Web Application, IAL database, and a set of robot control schemes prepared for students' laboratory curriculum that are running in Matlab RTW. The IAL management system supports multilingual access and enables easy addition of new users, new robotic systems, and new laboratory exercises related to robot control. The IAL functionality is demonstrated with the example of controlling a four degrees of freedom SCARA robot.

A proposal of remote laboratory for distance training in robotic applications

IEEE Symposium on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation, ETFA, 2007

This paper describes the development of a remote laboratory in the area of automatic and robotic engineering. The laboratory is based on an educational platform around a robotic arm that allows emulating a practical laboratory in which engineering students can confirm their theoretical results comparing them with the real paths traced by the robot. Thus, the research work presented in the article is directed towards the adaptation of concepts in the field of robotics and control in a remote laboratory.

Experimental Evaluation and Pilot Assessment Study of a Virtual and Remote Laboratory on Robotic Manipulation

Proceedings of the IEEE International Symposium on Industrial Electronics, 2005. ISIE 2005., 2005

Practical training in experimental laboratory scenarios is indeed of great importance since mere lecturing is not sufficient enough to complete students' education in many engineering disciplines. Synchronous and asynchronous distance learning platforms have many advantages such as attending courses from a distance (e.g. in virtual classroom environments). However remote "elaboratory" systems are just now beginning to develop. In this paper, the development of a "virtual and remote laboratory platform" in the field of robotics and the methodology of its experimental evaluation are discussed. In the past, in our prior work [10], a first pilot experimental study was conducted according to a special evaluation protocol, in order to evaluate system performance regarding remotely training students to program robot manipulation tasks using the robot's Teach Pendant. The results of the first pilot study are encouraging enough. In this paper, we are focusing on the methodology of the evaluation protocol and discuss ways to extend this study amongst three groups: group-I trained the "classical way" on the real robot, group-II (remote) trained remotely on the graphical user interface of the remote laboratory platform, and group-III (virtual) also trained on the user interface, but using only the "virtual robot" functionalities of the platform with no remote real robot connection on the loop. Initial results are showing the need for developing real training scenarios in the frame of remote laboratory education aiming to achieve effective learning schemes for students in the engineering field.

Development of a Client-Server Communication Method for Matlab/ Simulink Based Remote Robotics Experiments

2006 IEEE International Symposium on Industrial Electronics, 2006

This paper describes the development of a client-server communication method using the TCP/IP protocol to run Matlab/Simulink compatible motion control units operating on the remote server side. The developed method is currently in use to allow access to a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) robot simulator developed for both on-site and remote use at the Control Laboratory in the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). The client-server communication is developed in C/C++ using wxWidgets to communicate with the Matlab/Simulink downloadable DS1 104, which is used to develop a variety of robot dynamics configurations and control algorithms on the robotic simulator. Practical case study results from a remotely conducted graduate robotics project are also presented in relation to a HIL simulator developed for the real-time simulation of PUMA-type robots. The UAF remote laboratory web site can be accessed at:

The Use Of Matlab For Robotic Control In An Undergraduate Robotics Laboratory

2002 Annual Conference Proceedings

An effective undergraduate robotics course will have strongly coupled laboratory and classroom components. It is important that the students experience the application of classroom theory. Often, this application is transparent when using the vendor supplied programming environments. For example, Cartesian move commands will move the robot to a desired point in the workspace without a need for explicit solution of the inverse kinematics problem by the student. Programming environments such as MATLAB, Maple, or C\C++ have long provided an ideal simulation environment for studying kinematic or dynamic robotic models. Environments such as MATLAB are especially ideal for engineering students with limited programming expertise. By taking advantage of the serial port capabilities in MATLAB's Release 12 and later versions, along with the ability to compile existing C\C++ code under the MATLAB shell, the instructor can devise assignments that allow the student to easily model and control robotic systems in the MATLAB environment. This paper discusses two approaches and representative laboratory assignments.