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Robot Cell Modeling and Collision Detection

Based on Matlab•Date: Oct, 2012•Course: TTE-5707 Special Assignment in Factory Automation @ FAST-Lab.

Contact information

Tampere University of Technology,

FAST Laboratory,

P.O. Box 600,

FIN-33101 Tampere,

Finland

Email: fast@tut.fi

www.tut.fi/fast

Special Assignment in Factory Automation (coursework)

Title of the presentation: Robot Cell Modelling and Collision Detection Based on Matlab

Authors: Xiangbin Xu (Int. M.Sc. Programme in Machine Automation)

Dr. Andrei Lobov (Assoc. Professor)

Prof. Jose L. Martinez Lastra, Dr.Sc.

If you would like to receive a reprint of the original paper, please contact us

Robot Cell Modeling and Collision Detection Based on Matlab

Xiangbin Xu (Int. M.Sc. Programme in Machine Automation)

Supervisors:

Dr. Andrei Lobov (Assoc. Professor)

Prof. Jose L. Martinez Lastra, Dr.Sc.

Tampere University of Technology, FinlandFactory Automation Systems and Technologies Laboratory

Motivation• Robot cell modeling is beneficial for trajectory planning and the control process of the

industrial robots.• Real-time monitoring provides handy access to the current status of the industrial

robots• Collision detection helps prevent the manipulator from colliding with the other one or

the conveyors.• ABB IRB 140 is one of the most widely used industrial robots. It has 6-DOF with six

revolute joints.

The figures show the actual

robot cell and its model.

Figure 1 Actual robot cell Figure 2 Robot cell model

GUI and Communication

• Graphic user interface

A graphic user interface as shown in the figure

on the right is developed for selecting the default

layout of the conveyors or defining customized layout.

• Communication between the model and the robot controller The robot controller is connected to a PC through Ethernet. For the Matlab robot

model application, ABB PC SDK is integrated. The following illustration shows the

integration between the Matlab application and the IRC5 controller.

Figure 3 Graphic user interface

Figure 4 Communication between the model and the controller

Real-time Monitoring and Collision Detection

• Real-time monitoring The robot model follows and displays the path of

the manipulators.

• Collision detection The color of the robot model changes when any of

the manipulators collides with the other one or with

any of the conveyors.

Figure 5 Real-time monitoring

Figure 6 Collision detection

Summary

• The robot cell model and collision detection are realized by using Matlab

• The robot model is created with the help of the Robotics Toolbox

• ABB PC SDK is integrated for the communication between the model and

the robot controller

• The path and collision of the manipulators are displayed

• A user interface is developed for the reconfiguration of the layout of the

conveyors so that the cell model can be modified and updated, the

manipulators then use updated cell model for collision detection

The video of this project can be found from FAST Laboratory’s YouTube channel

Thank you!

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