Computer animated simulation of robotic manipulators and workcell design

A computer simulation of robotic manipulators using 3-D graphics and animation on an IBM PC is presented. The simulation package includes a library of robots and objects which can be placed in a workcell and viewed from any angle. Robots and objects can be custom designed and added to the library. A robot programming instruction set is available to create robot programs with an easy-to-use line editor. Robot programs can then be executed on the simulator using real-time animation. The simulator can also control an actual robot through the computer´s serial communication port. This software is intended for engineers who want to simulate and test new workcell designs or robot programs without bringing their robot offline, or for educators looking for an inexpensive way to give students experience in programming robots