MAKEROB : A small tool for great robot design

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FREE Demo: Download here.  

Figure 1.

MAKEROB is a program for robot kinematics simulation that is a useful software in robot design. It is also a good tool for teaching/learning robotics. The program permits to create and edit robots with up to 8 links (degrees of freedom). The user can define the joint types and link parameters, and then simulate the robot movements, determine the workspace, define routes and see how the robot moves over the route (inverse kinematics), as shown on fig.1. The robot links are shown as cillindrical parts with different colors and diameters. The robot and the coordinate system can be seen from different angles.

The MAKEROB is driven by a system of menus. Below there are listed some of the operations you can perform on your robot.

File
Edit
Check movement
Workspace
Change view angle
Define route
Delete route
Edit Link colors
Show route
Move over the route
Catch a ball

File permits to store and retrieve robot projects. A robot file may contain also the route data. The route is the desired trajectory of the gripper.

Edit may be used to create a new robot or to update an existing one. You can define link length and diameter, joint types and the corresponding limits. The joint types are: pitch, yaw and roll and the linear movement (variable link length). For each link and joint the corresponding movement limits can be defined.

Check movement. After defining or retrieving a robot data you can see how it moves. You can mode each link within the given limits and see the robot from different angles. This option has a sub-option that permits to move to a given point in the 3D space. After giving the point coordinates the robot moves the gripper to the point, provided the point is a reachable one. Then, the control variables are displayed (angles and linear displacements).

Workspace. The robot workspace is scanned. Then, you can see the 3D image of the space in the form of a 3D "cloud" of points, viewing it from different angles. Other option is to see the three projections of the workspace together with their convex envelopes. The following image is the view of the workspace as the 3D cloud. The shape of the cloud can be seen more clearly when the user changes the view angle with the mouse. This image shows up to 1000 most relevant point out of about reachable 100000 points obtained by the scanning procedure.

The workspace projections can give more information about the workspace. The following figure is an example of the YZ, XZ and XY projections. The green regions are the convex envelopes of the workspace.

Change view angle changes the default view angle for all 3D views.

Define rout, Delete route and Show route options may be used to manage desired robot routes. The route is first defined over the X-Y (horizontal) plane, and then the elevation of each point in Z direction is given. You can see the rout from different view angles, as shown in figure 1.

Edit link colors permits to change the display link colors.

Move over the route solves the inverse kinematics problem. If the route points are within the workspace, the robot will move its gripper over the given route.

The Catch the ball option can be used to check the robot movement employing the inverse kinematics. A small blue sphere will appear on the screen. You can control its position with the mouse. If you press the left mouse button while moving the mouse, the sphere will move parallel to the X-Y plane. Moving the mouse with the right button pressed will move the sphere parallel to the Y-Z plane. The robot will attempt to reach the sphere, if it can (if it is inside the workspace area).

Contact
Stanislaw Raczynski
Cost of the complete program: US$ 48.
FREE Demo: Download here. (This program needs at least 800x600 screen resolution, 16- or 24-bit color)

Use this button to order a full copy of the program

Consult also:  http://www.raczynski.com/pn/pn.htm  (PSM++ simulation system)

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