Dynamics co-simulation of a type of spot welding robot by RecurDyn and Simulink

A co-simulation on virtual prototype of a type of spot welding robot has been accomplished by combining MATLAB/Simulink with RecurDyn. The control algorithm is executed under MATLAB to generate command forces, which are then exported to RecurDyn environment and applied to actuators of the virtual prototype at each cycle of time. Dynamic control on joint angles was accomplished through the co-simulation. Torques of each joint and the velocity of the clamp end were also acquired by co-simulation, which can give useful information for optimizing robot design.