ROBOSIM: a CAD-based off-line programming and analysis system for robotic manipulators

In order for a robotic manipulator to perform useful work, it must be programmed to accomplish the desired task or motion cycle. There are many methods available for interfacing the human user with the industrial robot. This article concentrates on the off-line programming, analysis and interactive computer simulation of a general five-axis revolute robotic manipulator. An off-line programming system, called ROBOSIM (Robotic simulation), was developed for this task. The software that was produced included three-dimensional wire-frame graphics demonstrated on a commercially available CAD package. The off-line system solves the inverse kinematics at each point in the trajectory plan and determines the actual path of the end effector, using either joint-interpolated motion and/or straight-line motion. Velocity calculations and singularity checks are performed using the pseudo-inverse Jacobian matrix. A language translation module was also written for automatic code generation for the five-axis Microbot TeachMover. The developed off-line program has the ability to simulate any general five-axis robot of similar design and allows for easy updates to the system modules