5-DOF Servo Robot: Class Project
The 5-degree-of-freedom (DOF) robot is built from servo motors at low cost. Its kinematic structure is similar to the Rhino robot. The good thing about this robot is that it is very inexpensive and easy to make. It costs only less than 8,000 Baht (~$220 US)
This robot will be used in my robotics course (senior undergraduate elective) for a term project. The student will learn to apply robotics theory learned in class to program the robot using Matlab programming.
The students are assigned to perform the following tasks:
Task 1: Move a ring along a cable
A cable will be setup arbitrarily. You must control the robot to move a ring in its gripper along the cable without touching it.
In order to accomplish the task, you must:
1. Derive forward and inverse kinematics for the servo robot. You must define the proper coordinate frames and DH-parameters according to the real dimensions.
2. Write a Matlab program to control the robot in Cartesian coordinates. You must write the graphic user interface to control the robot motion.
3. Write a Matlab program to control the robot to move in a straight line. Your program must be capable of saving start and end positions. Then the program will use the start and end positions to generate robot trajectory.
Task 2: Pick and place objects into the right bins
In this task, you will have hands on experience with a machine vision. A camera installed above the robot workspace will take a snapshot of objects on the floor. The robot must be able to identify two types of objects, which are different in shape, by using image processing techniques. Then the robot must be able to pick the objects and place them into the right bins.
In order to accomplish the task, you must:
1. Identify and locate (both position and orientation) the object on the floor.
2. Control the robot to pick up the object, and place it on the bins at the programmed position.
Project resources
Tutorial Documents
- How to build the servo robot: Step by step
- How to setup the controller
- How to write a graphic user interface in Matlab
- Guideline for Developing the Program for the Servo Robot
Matlab source codes