An integrated system design interface for operating 8-DoF robotic arm

Abstract

This study examines the system integration of a game engine with robotics middleware to drive an 8 degree of freedom (DoF) robotic upper limb to generate human-like motion for telerobotic applications. The developed architecture encompasses a pipeline execution design using Blender Game Engine (BGE) including the acquisition of real human movements via the Microsoft Kinect V2, interfaced with a modeled virtual arm, and replication of similar arm movements on the physical robotic arm. In particular, this study emphasizes the integration of a human “pilot” with ways to drive such a robotic arm through simulation and later, into a finished system. Additionally, using motion capture technology, a human upper limb action was recorded and applied onto the robot arm using the proposed architecture flow. Also, we showcase the robotic arm’s actions which include reaching, picking, holding, and dropping an object. This paper presents a simple and intuitive kinematic modeling and 3D simulation process, which is validated using 8-DoF articulated robot to demonstrate methods for animation, and simulation using the designed interface.