Use of computer graphics and simulation to study robotic and automation systems

An inverse kinematics procedure was used to simulate the motions of a robotic arm operating in a workcell environment to develop a tool for studying the operation of such a simulated system relative to a real robotic system. A mathematical model, algorithms, applications, user interface and software was developed for this purpose. The mathematical model and algorithms consist of the kinematic and dimensional parameters of the actual robotic system (Unimation PUMA 560 robot and workcell). Specific algorithms for simulation include specified angular movement of joints, positions of the end effector in Cartesian space (involving inverse kinematics to solve joint rotations) and algorithms for visual display of the robotic workcell components on the computer terminal (color graphics) monitor.<>