Category Archives: Robotics

Please ensure you have JavaScript enabled in your browser. If you leave JavaScript disabled, you will only access a portion of the content we are providing. Here's how. A robotics engineer could... Key Facts & Information Source: O*Net Training, Other Qualifications

The robotics-engineering industry is a broad and changing field of study. To keep their knowledge and skills up to date, robotics engineers will need to read research and trade journals, attend professional seminars and conferences, and work with colleagues on cutting-edge research.

New robotics engineers often begin their careers as assistants or junior engineers at a robotics firm, under the supervision of an established colleague.

A bachelor's degree in engineering or a related field is required for most entry-level positions in robotics engineering. Because robotics technology draws on the expertise of many different engineering disciplines, engineers who specialize in robotics often have degrees in mechanical, manufacturing, electrical, electronic, or industrial engineering. Some colleges and universities now offer robotics engineering degrees. Robotics courses typically include training in hydraulics and pneumatics, CADD/CAM systems, numerically controlled systems, microprocessors, integrated systems, and logic. It usually takes four to five years to earn a bachelor's degree in engineering. Some colleges offer work-study programs in which students receive on-the-job training while still in school. Most universities that offer robotics courses have well-equipped labs with lasers and CADD/CAM equipment.

For some positions, and to advance in the field, you need a master's degree or PhD. A PhD is required to teach in this field as well as for most high-level research positions. A master's degree requires one to two years of additional schooling, while a PhD takes three to five additional years in school.

Robotics is a rapidly growing field that has applications in diverse industries. A robotics engineer designs robots, maintains robots, develops new applications for robots, and conducts research to expand the potential for robots. Robots can be used in a variety of industries, including manufacturing, agriculture, aerospace, mining, and medicine. Robots are used to perform tasks too dangerous or dirty for humans to perform. Robotics engineers use computer-aided design and drafting (CADD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) systems to perform their tasks. Robotics research engineers design robotic systems and research methods to manufacture them economically. Robotics engineers who work for robot manufacturers are sometimes called robotics test engineers or automation system engineers. These engineers apply the robotic system to a particular use on a manufacturing assembly line. They also create an integrated environment between people and machinery. Leaders in this field work on creating experimental mobile robots for space research (like the Mars rovers) and medical uses.

Robotics engineers must be familiar with logic, microprocessors, and computer programming so that they can design the right robot for each application. They must also prepare specifications for the robot's capabilities as they relate to the work environment. In addition, robotics engineers are responsible for developing cost proposals, efficiency studies, and quality-control reports.

Most robotics engineers are employed by private robot manufacturers or robot users. Some engineers work in military and space programs. Others work for colleges and universities or vocational and trade schools.

Most robotics engineers go to work in offices, manufacturing plants, or laboratories. Manufacturing plants maybe noisy, depending on the industry. They may also work on a factory floor where they monitor or solve on-site problems. Many robotics engineers work a standard 40-hour week. At times, deadlines or design standards may bring extra pressure to a job, requiring engineers to work longer hours.

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Robotics Engineer - Science Buddies

KUKA industrial robots are the key factor in achieving higher productivity and greater profitability. They improve the quality of the products and reduce the requirement for costly materials and limited energy resources.

At KUKA Robotics, our vision is to establish the industrial robot as an intelligent assistant to humans during manufacturing: humans and robots work hand in hand, ideally complementing each other with their respective skills. This also makes it possible for small and medium-sized companies to deploy robots cost-effectively.

KUKA Robotics supplies industrial robots which are perfectly tailored to your application. From the actual robot itself and the controller all the way to the appropriate software: customers from a diverse range of industries benefit from innovative technologies and sophisticated engineering.

KUKA Robotics can offer you the following product spectrum:

We also supply controllers, software and a broad range of services, for example customer support, training courses at KUKA College or engineering.Our solutions are implemented in the following industries in particular:

Find out about the other divisions of KUKA: KUKA Systems, KUKA Industries and Swisslog.

KUKA Robotics is the North American headquarters of KUKA Roboter GmbH. The Shelby Township, MI location is home to KUKA Robotics USA-based sales, applications, project engineering, service, parts, training and administrative staff, plus North American business leadership personnel.

Half of the building is dedicated to hands-on experiences with the latest robotics technologies, products, and training. Stocks of robots and parts are also on-hand to meet ever increasing pressure for fast delivery.

KUKA Robotics core competencies include the development, production, and sale of industrial robots, controllers, software, linear units, and omniMove omni-directional motion platforms.

KUKA robots are utilized in a diverse range of industries including the appliance, automotive, aerospace, consumer goods, logistics, food, pharmaceutical, medical, foundry and plastics industries as well as multiple applications including material handling, machine loading, assembly, packaging, palletizing, welding, bending, joining, and surface finishing.

Our industrial robots can be used in a wide variety of applications. Find out about our extensive range of products and solutions now.

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KUKA Robotics | KUKA AG

Carnegie Mellons Robotics Academystudies how teachers use robots in classrooms to teach Computer Science, Science, Technology Engineering, and Mathematics (CS-STEM). Our mission is to use the motivational effects of robotics to excite students about science and technology. The Robotics Academy fulfills it mission by developing research based solution for teachers that foreground CS-STEM and are classroom tested. Robotics Academy inspired papers and publications can be found here:

http://education.rec.ri.cmu.edu/educators/research/

Carnegie Mellons Robotic Academy staff and development team are housed in the National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC), where robots for business, government, and industry are designed, prototyped, and tested just outside our office doors.

http://cs2n.org/teachers/ccrc

The CCRC projects goal is to integrate more computational thinking into robotics classrooms. CMRA has seen that many schools robotic classrooms started because the school became involved with a robotics competition. Many robotic competitions consist of a set of mechanically challenging activities and dont require sophisticated programming solutions for teams to be successful. This project builds on the existing robotics competition infrastructure and then extends these activities in ways that foreground computational thinking.

http://cs2n.org/teachers/cer

Robotics provide a great opportunity to introduce students to computer science. Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh develops, tests, and refines a Theory of Robotic Programming Badges that can be applied to Computer Science Education. This project builds on lessons learned as CMRA built the Computer Science Student Network and integrates a complete badge system in Robot Virtual Worlds. The project measures the ability of badges to motivate student learning, to be accurate indicators of student performance, and if the badges are easily understood by students.

For years we have heard that teachers are using robotics to teach mathematics. This project studied existing (2008) robotics education pedagogy and then developed multiple strategies that foregrounded proportional reasoning, a big idea in mathematics, that can be taught using robots. CMRA developed multiple tools that can help teachers foreground mathematics using robots:

Abstraction Bridges Link

Robots in Motion Link

Expedition Atlantis Game Link

Expedition Atlantis Teachers Guide PDF Content

Robot Virtual World Measurement Toolkit MP4 Video

and many written papers Link

Mathematics is an enabler of all future innovation and CMRA continues to look for innovative ways to foreground mathematics in all of its activities.

http://www.cs2n.org

The Computer Science Student Network (CS2N) started as a collaborative research project between Carnegie Mellon University and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) designed to increase the number of students pursuing advanced Computer Science and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (CS-STEM) degrees. CS2N has morphed into an online portal where students and teachers can find activities, competitions, and training designed to help them learn basic programming.

http://www.education.rec.ri.cmu.edu/robots/corridor/index.htm

The Robotics Corridor Project was a collaboration between Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh, Butler County Community College, California University of Pennsylvania, Robert Morris University, Westmoreland County Community College, the Community College of Beaver County, the Community College of Allegheny College, and regional industry partners designed to determine the skill sets that a highly qualified technician would need to work in the robotics and automation industries. This partnership helped establish training, certifications, and associate degrees at the partner schools.

The Robotics Academy is a world leader in robotics education and trains teacher internationally. To learn more about our online, face to face, or onsite training please select this link:

http://education.rec.ri.cmu.edu/educators/professional-development/

The Robotics Academys qualified trainers can come to your site and offer classes for groups of teachers. The cost is $4000 plus expenses for up to 12 students for three days of classes. More than 12 students require a second trainer and increase the cost to $2000/day plus expenses. Total expenses are calculated prior to confirming the teaching dates.

You supply the training room, computers and robots (or robot kits) for the students as well as necessary utilities. In planning for necessary computers and robots, note that students are generally grouped in twos. Call412 681-7160for more information.

The Robotics Academy is pleased to share the following new curricular tools with you.

Introduction to Programming VEX IQ

The Introduction to Programming the VEX IQ Curriculum features lesson for the VEX IQ Microcontroller; the curriculums focus is to teach beginning programmers how to program using ROBOTCs graphical programming environment. All of the challenges in the curriculum have are available in the Robot Virtual World simulation environment.

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VEX Cortex Video Trainer w/ ROBOTC

The VEX Cortex Video Trainer is a multimedia-rich curriculum featuring lessons for the VEX Cortex Microcontroller; the curriculums focus is to teach how to program, but it also includes multi-faceted engineering challenges, step-by-step videos, and robotics engineering teacher support materials. Themajority of the challenge found in the Cortex Video trainer have been simulated in the Robot Virtual World Curriculum Companion.

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ROBOTC Graphical Introduction to Programming LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3

The Introduction to Programming the EV3 Curriculum is a curriculum module designed to teachcore computer programming logic and reasoning skills using a robotics context. The curriculumconsists of three chapters (Basic Movement, Sensors, and Program Flow) and each chapteris broken into units that teach key robotics and programming concepts. Additionally, there isa huge amount of support for teachers competing in Robotics Competitions for the first timeincluded in the teachers guide!

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Introduction to Programming LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3

The Introduction to Programming EV3 Curriculum is a curriculum module designedto teach core computer programming logic and reasoning skills using a roboticsengineering context. It contains a sequence of 10 projects (plus one capstonechallenge) organized around key robotics and programming concepts.

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Robot Virtual Worlds enable students to program virtual robots using the same code that they use on the physical classroom robots.

Robot Virtual Worlds

No Robot, No Problem! Robot Virtual Worlds is a high-end simulation environment that enables students, without robots, to learn programming. Research has shown that learning to program in RVW is more efficient than learning to program using physical robots. RVW simulates popular real world LEGO robots in 3D environments and allows you to program them using the same languages as physical robots. The RVW environment is perfect for home, classroom, and competition environments!

More Information:www.RobotVirtualWorlds.comwww.robomatter.com

Expedition Atlantis

Its the year 2023 and Atlantis has been discovered deep in the ocean, off of the coast of Africa. A team of elite scientists and engineers have been sent to investigate the underwater ruins, and youre one of them! Use your skills to to maneuver the teams underwater vehicles in this expedition to Atlantis!

This is a great GAME that will teach kids the math behind robot movement.

Learn More

Virtual Brick

GEA offers summer camps, weekend, and after school programs rooted in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM), including the Lego WeDo Robotics, Programming with Scratch, Video Game Design, Lego EV3 Robotics, and Coding with RobotC. Find out more at:

http://www.greeneacademy.net/

Sarah Heinz House is an organization, aimed to provide children and teens with powerful role models and a safe, fun place to go after school, on weekends and during the summer. Find out more at:

http://www.sarahheinzhouse.org/summer-camps/

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Robotics Academy

Break things down to the original Latin and manufacturing is literally a matter of using your hands (manu) to make things (factura). Robots are a different story. The term comes to us from the Czech word robotnik, which means nothing short of slave labor. Don't let science fiction and Japanese cuteness confuse you: Humans created robots to do their drudge work.

Factories first opened their doors to modern industrial robots in 1961. That's when Unimate joined the General Motors workforce. Unimate was essentially a 4,000-pound (1,814-kilogram) arm attached to a giant steel drum. The Unimate robots boasted remarkable versatility for the time and could easily pour liquid metal into die casts, weld auto bodies together and manipulate 500-pound (227-kilogram) payloads.

In other words, Unimate could perform tasks that humans often found dangerous or boring, and it could do them with consistent speed and precision. It never called in sick, went on strike or violated company rules. It covered all three shifts in a 24-hour period without drawing a single minute of overtime. Needless to say, factory owners grew to like this no-nonsense new addition.

Robot factory workers aren't without their limitations, however. In their simplest forms, industrial robots are mere automatons. Humans program them to perform a simple task, and they repeat that task over and over again. Tasks that require decision-making, creativity, adaptation and on-the-job learning tend to go to the humans.

But when a job's just right for a robot, productivity tends to increase dramatically. For instance, Australia's Drake Trailers installed a single welding robot on its production line and benefited from a reported 60 percent increase in productivity [source: ABB Australia].

The most obvious impact of industrial mechanization is that it eliminates many unskilled job positions. This has especially been the case in United States and Japan, two countries that illuminate important factors in the robot takeover.

Japan suffers from negative population growth, and the younger members of its workforce are generally disinclined to take what they may perceive as dull manufacturing jobs. Industrial robots, therefore, have been a true advantage in that they fill unwanted factory jobs and create more technical positions dedicated to their upkeep. In the same way that a computerized office depends on various techies, so too do robotic workers require technical upkeep.

The United States, on the other hand, has seen a great deal of its factory business flee to China and other countries, where human labor is simply cheaper. Even domestic factory automation, with its allure of improved productivity and efficiency, has failed to tip the scales.

What will the future bring? Despite the economic downturn in 2009, the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) observed a global surge in industrial robot demand for 2010. According to IFR estimates, the year 2013 will see Earth's population of industrial robots exceed 1.1 million [source: IFR]

Meanwhile, roboticists continue to stretch the boundaries of what industrial robots can do, such as in the field of machine learning, tactile sensing and socially intelligent robots. The future will likely see machines working alongside humans and even learning from them to perform an increasing number of manufacturing tasks.

Read this article:

How have robots changed manufacturing? | HowStuffWorks

The Robotics Academy is a world leader in robotics education and trains teacher internationally. To learn more about our online, face to face, or onsite training, scroll down to see all the available training sessions.

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The Robotics Academys qualified trainers can come to your site and offer classes for groups of teachers from September through May. Robotics Academy are not typically available to train during the summer. Cost for training begins at $2000/day plus expenses. Please send an email to training@rec.ri.cmu.edu to discuss your schools training needs.

All training is conducted at the National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC) in Pittsburgh, PA. The NREC is part of the Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute, a world-renowned robotics organization, where youll be surrounded by real-world robot research and commercialization.

On-site training takes you through four and a half days of training and also includes:

Hands-on training using provided hardware and software Robotics Academy Certification for Graduates Certificate of Completion for Graduates ACT 48 Credits (for PA Teachers) Tour of the National Robotics Engineering Center Lunch!

You also can take advantage of Pittsburghs attractions, from world-class museums and entertainment, to shopping, excursions sports, and more.

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The Robotics Academys qualified trainers can come to your site and offer classes for groups of teachers from September through May. Robotics Academy are not typically available to train during the summer. Cost for training begins at $2000/day plus expenses. Please send an email to training@rec.ri.cmu.edu to discuss your schools training needs.

Enjoy the convenience of taking Robotics Academy courses without leaving your own computer workstation.

Enjoy these benefits with Online Training:

Assisted training using provided hardware and software Screen sharing amongst the class Networking opportunities with other professional educators Robotics Academy Certification for Graduates

The Professional Development courses provide teachers and coaches with a solid foundation for robot programming in the respective languages, and experience in troubleshooting common student mistakes. It also focuses on identifying and extracting academic value from the naturally occurring STEM situations encountered in robotics explorations.

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September 29th November 3rd, 2016[ENDED] Thursdays,6 8pm EST (3 5pm PST)[ENDED] Instructor: Vu

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September 26th October 31st, 2016[ENDED] Mondays,6 8pm EST (3 5pm PST)[ENDED] Instructor: Jesse

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September 28th November 2nd, 2016[ENDED] Wednesday, 6 8pm EST (3 5pm PST)[ENDED] Instructor: Heath

We will not be offering classes for less than 8 registrants in an online class.If a class does not have enough registrants, we will ask if you would like to join a different session if one is available. We will not send out software or hardware until there are enough registrants in the class.

Original post:

Professional Development | Robotics Academy

Online Professional Development Courses Start this February!

Online Professional Development Courses Start this February! We are excited to announce our latest online training schedule! Classes start in February and you can enjoy the convenience of taking Robotics Academy courses without leaving your own computer workstation! Register for a class here! Benefits of Robotics Academy Online Training Courses:

The latest chapter within the VEX CORTEX Video Trainer Curriculum is now available Competition Programming!Located in the Engineering Section,this chapterincludes lessons designed to help students prepare their programs for a VEX Competition. Some of the lessons youll learn within this chapter includes: Creating a Competition Legal Program with the

The latest chapter within our VEX CORTEX Video Trainer Curriculum is now available Using the LCD!Located in the Sensing section, this chaptercovers how to configure and implement the LCD as a useful tool in your program. Some of the lessons youll learn within this chapter includes: Three steps to

We are excited to share our latest chapter available within our VEX CORTEX Video Trainer Curriculum Gyro Sensor!Located in the Sensing section, this chapter will allow you toto turn the robot by measurements of degrees. Some of the lessons youll learn within this chapter includes: How the Gyro Sensor

We are excited to announce our Fallonline training schedulethatstarts in September! The Robotics Academy is a world leader in robotics education and trains teacher internationally. Enjoy the convenience of taking Robotics Academy courses without leaving your own computer workstation. Robotics Academy online training includes: Online access to supplemental lessons from

We are excited to share our latest chapter available within out VEX CORTEX Video Trainer Curriculum Integrated Encoders! Located in the Movement section, this chapter will allow you to increase movement accuracy and automatic movement corrections. Some of the lessons youll learn within this chapter includes: Introduction to the

Our Robotics Summer of Learning (RSOL) opens today! This summer, students have the opportunity to learn how to program virtual robots using a FREE copy of Robot Virtual Worldswhere they can program VEX IQor LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3virtual robots.All RSOL courses are self-paced with e-mail support available at rsol@cs2n.org. Sign

We are proud to announce the return of our Robotics Summer of Learning program!This summer, students have the opportunity to learn how to program robots, earn a programming certificate and badges, and play with cool software for FREE!We will provide all of the software and training materials at no cost

Our on-site (in Pittsburgh, PA) and online Summer Professional Development classes for VEX CORTEX, VEX IQ, and LEGO MINDSTORMS are filling up quickly. Register todayto make sure you get into your preferred course (listed below!) Highlights of the Robotics Academy Training: Acquire new skills with technology and new ways to

My name is Ringo Dingrando and I teach Robotics and Physics at International School Manila in the Philippines. For the past three years, high school students have been inquiring into how to program using ROBOTC and how to use their programming skills to build robots, often with VEX hardware. In

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ROBOTC | Robotics Academy

Introduction

This, the ninth release of the Toolbox, represents over fifteen years of development and a substantial level of maturity. This version captures a large number of changes and extensions generated over the last two years which support my new book Robotics, Vision & Control.

The Toolbox has always provided many functions that are useful for the study and simulation of classical arm-type robotics, for example such things as kinematics, dynamics, and trajectory generation. The Toolbox is based on a very general method of representing the kinematics and dynamics of serial-link manipulators.

These parameters are encapsulated in MATLAB objects - robot objects can be created by the user for any serial-link manipulator and a number of examples are provided for well know robots such as the Puma 560 and the Stanford arm amongst others. The Toolbox also provides functions for manipulating and converting between datatypes such as vectors, homogeneous transformations and unit-quaternions which are necessary to represent 3-dimensional position and orientation.

This ninth release of the Toolbox has been significantly extended to support mobile robots. For ground robots the Toolbox includes standard path planning algorithms (bug, distance transform, D*, PRM), kinodynamic planning (RRT), localization (EKF, particle filter), map building (EKF) and simultaneous localization and mapping (EKF), and a Simulink model a of non-holonomic vehicle. The Toolbox also including a detailed Simulink model for a quadrotor flying robot.

Advantages of the Toolbox are that:

the code is quite mature and provides a point of comparison for other implementations of the same algorithms;

the routines are generally written in a straightforward manner which allows for easy understanding, perhaps at the expense of computational efficiency. If you feel strongly about computational efficiency then you can always rewrite the function to be more efficient, compile the M-file using the Matlab compiler, or create a MEX version;

since source code is available there is a benefit for understanding and teaching.

Downloading the Toolbox

Download it from here in zip format (.zip).

The Toolbox is tested with MATLAB R2011a.

To install the Toolbox simply unpack the archive which will create the directory (folder) rvctools, and within that the directories robot, simulink, and common.

Adjust your MATLABPATH to include rvctools

Execute the startup file rvctools/startup_rvc.m and this will place the correct directories in your MATLAB path.

Run the demo rtbdemo to see what it can do

To get the MEX version of rne visit the folder rvctools/robot/mex and follow the directions in the README file

Documentation

The book Robotics, Vision & Control (Corke, 2011) is a detailed introduction to mobile robotics, navigation, localization; and arm robot kinematics, Jacobians and dynamics illustrated using the Robotics Toolbox for MATLAB.

The manual robot.pdf is a printable document (around 100 pages). It is auto-generated from the comments in the MATLAB code and is fully: to external web sites, the table of content to functions, and the ``See also'' functions to each other. You can find this in the Toolbox as rvctools/robot/robot.pdf

The Toolbox documentation also appears in the MATLAB help browser.

Related publications

If you like the Toolbox and want to cite it please reference it as:

P.I. Corke, Robotics, Vision & Control, Springer 2011, ISBN 978-3-642-20143-1. [bibtex]

The following are now quite old publications about the Toolbox and the syntax has changed considerably over time:

P.I. Corke, MATLAB toolboxes: robotics and vision for students and teachers, IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine, Volume 14(4), December 2007, pp. 16-17 [PDF]

P.I. Corke, "A Robotics Toolbox for MATLAB", IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine, Volume 3(1), March 1996, pp. 24-32. [PDF]

P.I. Corke, A computer tool for simulation and analysis: the Robotics Toolbox for MATLAB, Proceedings of the 1995 National Conference of the Australian Robot Association, Melbourne, Australia, pp 319-330, July 1995. [PDF]

Support

There is no support! This software is made freely available in the hope that you find it useful in solving whatever problems you have to hand. I am happy to correspond with people who have found genuine bugs or deficiencies but my response time can be long and I can't guarantee that I respond to your email. I am very happy to accept contributions for inclusion in future versions of the toolbox, and you will be suitably acknowledged.

I can guarantee that I will not respond to any requests for help with assignments or homework, no matter how urgent or important they might be to you. That's what your teachers, tutors, lecturers and professors are paid to do.

You might instead like to communicate with other users via the Google Group called which is a forum for discussion. You need to signup in order to post, and the signup process is moderated by me so allow a few days for this to happen. I need you to write a few words about why you want to join the list so I can distinguish you from a spammer or a web-bot.

There is also a frequently asked questions (FAQ) wiki page.

Whos using it

Introduction to Robotics (3rd edition), John Craig, Wiley, 2004. The exercises in this book are based on an earlier version of the Robotics Toolbox for MATLAB.

Robot Kinematics and Dynamics, Wikibooks.

Toolbox ported to other languages

Robotics Toolbox for SciLab, Matteo Morelli

Robotics Toolbox for LabView, National Instruments ported the MATLAB Toolbox to Labview under licence.

Robotics Toolbox for Python, still quite immature (Corke)

Octave. A large part of release 9 now works with Octave. There is a folder called octave and follow the instructions in the README to install it. The classical Robotics Toolbox functions are supported: Link, SerialLink, Quaternion and all the trajectory, angle conversion functions. None of the mobile robotics functions are covered. In terms of the RVC book the functions for Chaps 7, 8 and 9 are covered.

Other robotics related software on the web

ARTE: Robotics Toolbox for Education, a Matlab toolbox focussed on industrial robotic manipulators, with rich 3D graphics, teach pendants and the ABB RAPID language.

V-REP, a virtual robot experimentation platform, the Swiss army knife of robot simulators.

OpenRAVE, an environment for testing, developing, and deploying motion planning algorithms in real-world robotics applications.

RoKiSim, a Windows-based simulator with 3D models of common robots which can be driven using a virtual teach pendent.

SPACELIB: 3D kinematics and dynamics, C-language and MATLAB. (Legnani, U. di Brescia)

Dynamechs a C++ library for simulating the dynamics of multibody systems

ROBOOP, C++ classes for robot kinematics and dynamics (Richard Gourdeau of cole Polytechnique de Montreal)

JRoboOp Java wrapper for ROBOOP from the PRISMA Lab at U. Naples.

Open Dynamics Engine A free, industrial quality library for simulating articulated rigid body dynamics for example ground vehicles, legged creatures, and moving objects in VR environments.

RoboAnalyzer (IIT Delhi)

Orocos (Open Robot Control Software) project(EURON)

Retired or gone missing:

Robotica for Mathematica (Spong, U. Ilinois)

Robot Symbolic Dynamics package for MAPLE (Corke)

MATROBCOM a toolbox for interfacing Matlab to real robots (Pires, U.Coimbra).

ROBOMOSP: Robotics Modelling and Simulation Platform

Toolbox release history

v4 August 1996

v5 April 1999, first with objects

v6 April 2001

v7 April 2002, MEX files, Simulink models and modified Denavit-Hartenberg support.

v8 December 2008, first with classdef object syntax

v9 September 2011

The text of this website [or page, if you are specifically releasing one section] is available for modification and reuse under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Unported License and the GNU Free Documentation License (unversioned, with no invariant sections, front-cover texts, or back-cover texts).

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Robotics Toolbox - PeterCorke.com

76. Dear Rich Hooper, I am an electrical engineering student at Bucknell University working with a design team to improve the control interface for a professor's micromanipulator. Do you have any suggestions for us? We are currently using an "RC style" joystick with the twist controlling z-axis motion and up-down/back-forth controlling x and y. It springs back to neutral when no force is applied.

Dear Student: I would call what you are working on a Human Machine Interface (HMI). I bet there's a visual component (computer screen, VR goggles, etc.) along with the hand controller part. The hand controller part is also often called the manual controller. Frankly, if you only need to control X, Y and Z it's going to be tough to beat a traditional joystick like you already have. My experience is that humans are most precise using the small muscles of their hands and fingers, and that's the scale of a traditional joystick. Some force feedback might be helpful. You could experiment with that, but I don't recommend a manual controller that is at the scale of whole arm or body motion to control a micro manipulator.

If you are going to try to design a force feedback manual controller, it needs to be very high bandwidth. The structure needs to be very light, there needs to be no backlash and the actuators need to be backdrivable. The Phantom haptic device http://www.dentsable.com/haptic-phantom-omni.htm is a good example of a design that follows these principles and is at the scale of small movements of the hands and fingers. You could look at this design and learn from it.

Good luck with the project,

Rich

1. What are some of the advancements in robotics?

The biggest advancements have been in the precision, speed and strength of robots. Learning and artificial intelligence algorithms have probably been the biggest disappointments. I dont think we will see robots even remotely approaching human intelligence by 2050.

2. What defines artificial intelligence?

Artificial means not occurring in nature. Intelligence is the capacity to acquire and apply knowledge.

3. What is the closest to artificial intelligence that mankind has created thus far?

Probably some computer algorithm.

4. Is it possible robots will surpass human intelligence?

It is possible, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting.

5. Besides creating a neural network, are there any other ways of creating artificial intelligence?

Learning algorithms and expert systems are two examples.

6. About how much does it cost to build a humanoid robot?

Im sure Honda has spent tens of millions of dollars on their Asimo.

7. If a completely self sustaining robot is created is it possible that Hollywood movies like The Terminator and I Robot could become reality?

It is possible, but more likely the people that made the robots would just turn them off before it got that out-of-control.

8. With spying becoming a greater problem, will creating surveillance robots add to an already growing threat?

Surveillance robots do make excellent spies.

9. Do you think that the field of robotics engineers will grow in the future or shrink?

I think the field will grow. Do some research on the number of robots deployed world-wide today and compare it with the numbers from ten years ago and then see what you think. You might also like to read Marshall Brains Robotic Nation and see what he thinks.

10. Robots like the Mini Andros III are used to dispose of explosive ordinance devices. Are there any other robots that help in a similar manner like firefighting?

I'm sure there are. Do some research and please let me know what you find. I think the BEAR robot could make an excellent fire fighter.

11. AIBO is able to learn and is capable of simulating emotions. Is there a possibility of AIBO turning on its owners?

Nope. I just read that Sony is discontinuing Aibo.

12. Im about to graduate high school. How do I find a job in robotics?

You really have two choices. The first is to go to traditional college and the second is to go to a technical college. If you decide to go the traditional college route, then you should probably study science or engineering, though there may be opportunities for folks with humanities degrees to work in the robotics field one of these days. Dr. Susan Calvin was a robot psychologist. If you go to a technical college, then you will have a chance to learn about robot programming and robot applications. A job doing those things would be very interesting.

13. Im about to graduate college with an engineering degree. How do I find a job in robotics?

When you first graduate college, you will be a very junior engineer. Robots are often the most complex systems a company will make. You will need to first focus on a subsystem, such as the mechanical, electrical, computing or software systems. Once you have become an accomplished engineer in one of those fields, you can consider moving to a systems engineering roles.

14. What sort of classes did you take to prepare for your college career, or what classes did you participate in your freshman year of college?

I didn't take calculus or any AP classes in high school. I did participate in student government, spent several semesters in metal shop and was on a sports team every year. Hopefully some Universities still appreciate varied experience. College had the typical freshman-engineering curriculum - calculus, physics and chemistry.

15. Did you always wish to be involved with robotics, if so what started your interests in robotics? If not, how did you come into being involved?

I've been interested in robotics for as long as I can remember. I'm not sure what started it. I do remember making a robotic hand in my garage when I was about 16.

16. What sort of company or group do you work for, and what is required of you by your employer (in terms of hours, job expectations, etc)?

I work for a company that does custom engineering of computer-controlled machines. We bid on projects in the 1 to 10 million-dollar range primarily. The projects usually last a year or less. We have about 70 engineers and about 15 work in my group. I work about 53 hours a week and try not to make too many big $$$ mistakes.

17. Within your job, what do you enjoy the most and what do you enjoy the least? Why?

I like most aspects of my job. The hardest part is dealing with employees that don't try hard enough or make a lot of mistakes.

18. I was wondering what colleges or universities are good for majoring in robotics.

Any college or university with an engineering program can put you on the path towards a career in robotics. Talk to (or email) someone on the faculty and tell them you are interested in robotics. See what they think.

19. Does your employer offer you benefits?

My employer offers benefits that are typical for a company that employs engineers health, life & disability insurance, 401k, standard holidays, a cube : )

20. Did you like the college you chose? if not why?

I went to Rice University for my undergraduate degree. The choice was good for me. I recommend looking for a University committed to nurturing its undergraduate students. I know its hard to believe, but an 18-year-old living away from home for the first time can use some guidance from time to time.

21. What are the educational requirements for becoming a robotics engineer?

The educational requirements are pretty much the same as the educational requirements for becoming any kind of engineer. That would be an engineering degree from a four-year college. Ive also seen folks with physics degrees and other science degrees working as engineers. There is also plenty of room for technical college degrees in the robotics field. These would be for the folks that would like to work on the "ground floor" with robots. They are deploying robots and teaching them to do their tasks.

22. What is the typical job function?

See below for a description of what I do on a typical day.

23. What do you do on a typical workday?

I generally get to work at 8:00 AM. Then Ill:

Spend two or three hours designing electrical circuits or mechanical systems and helping younger engineers learn about these circuits and systems. These engineers also help me by creating drawings and schematics.

An hour or two working on Bills Of Materials (BOMs) The BOM is very important to engineers. This is a list of all the materials in the system. It includes wires, resistors, integrated circuits, nuts, bolts and processors, etc. The manufacturing department uses the BOMs and the drawings to build the systems.

An hour or two in meetings or conference calls

An hour or two writing emails

An hour or two in the lab conducting experiments or trying to understand why the systems I designed are not working the way I thought the would.

Ill take a 30-minute lunch at noon and go home around 6:30. I usually sneak in a few hours working early in the morning on weekends (I'm writing the answer to this question at 2:40 AM). I typically work 53-hour weeks.

24. My son is 13 and is very interested in robotics, he attends West Hill School in Stalybridge Cheshire. He is to take his options for next year, can you suggest which would be the right direction for him to choose. Will he need A levels? and which University would you recommend he attend. He has been asked for Homework, what he would need in terms of qualifications to do this job. I hope you can help. Your website is very interesting, Brilliant and very informative. Thanks in advance.:

I'm happy to hear you enjoyed looking at the learnaboutrobots site. Robotics is such a broad field that your son could study almost any discipline and end up working with robots. There are robots in art, music and entertainment. The "star" of Isaac Asimov's "I Robot" books is a robot psychologist. I don't know how it is in Stalybridge Cheshire, but here in Austin public school is crammed with reading, writing and arithmetic - at the expense of music, arts and physical education. I have a 13 year old son too. I encourage him to study what he enjoys. I also insist that he participates in at least one cultural extracurricular activity (like playing piano) and one physical (he's on swim team right now) every semester. Tell your son I said hello.

25. Give a brief description of your field of engineering.

Systems engineering - The design of systems with mechanical components, electrical components, computing machinery and software.

26. Do you design you own work, or produce someone else's designs?

Engineers design their own work. Junior engineers get more supervision and senior engineers can make bigger mistakes.

27. What advice would you give a high school student (myself) who is thinking of going into robotics engineering?

The same advice I'd give a middle school student and an undergraduate student. Take the classes that seem interesting to you. See 24 above.

28. If you had to do it all over again, what (if anything) would you do differently?

Take more vacation time...

29. I'm not really good in mathematics, but I'm pretty average. Do you think I have what it takes to become a robotic engineer?

You can definitely work in robotics without being strong in mathematics. You might find getting an undergraduate degree in engineering pretty tough. Most engineering curricula have a lot of math. I'm sure you can do it, though you might need to spend a little more time on your homework.

30. I understand that you are a very busy man, but I need just a moment of your time. I am sure you get this question a lot. Do you know of any specific colleges I could attend in Indiana to get a degree in mechanical engineering? I believe a degree in mechanical engineering could help me become a robotics engineer. Please write back to me as soon as you can. Thank you in advance for your time.

Not a day goes by when someone doesn't ask me about mechanical engineering programs in Indiana : ) I'm not familiar with colleges in Indiana, but I bet there are plenty that have good programs in mechanical engineering. An undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering would be a great way to get on the path to becoming a robotics professional..

31. My friend and I were brain storming last night till about 4am about a simple robot that could play simple games. The games would involve timing so it would only involve one or two robotic fingers to fire corresponding with the timing.

You might consider servo center by Yost engineering and a couple of RC servos from the hobby shop. That would get you going for about $100. You could also buy a Robot magazine http://www.botmag.com/. There are lots of ads in that magazine for different robot building kits. Good luck!

32. I know that there are different disciplines in engineering such as robotics. But are there disciplines in Robotics Engineering? What is the correct term? What I am trying to say is that, Are their different fields such as Android engineering, Robotic Toys, Robotic Vehicles, Robotic Tools etc.? How many and what are the names of those different robotics fields?

I would call them branches of robotics. The branches I can think of along the lines you suggest would be mobile robotics, robotics tooling, robot vision, toys and entertainment. The disciplines that shape robotics include controls, mechanisms, dynamics, kinematics, computing hardware and software.

33. I am an academic coach assisting a high school student with the task of selecting the right college to fit his needs, wants, grades and temperament, that is a smaller school versus a huge 30,000 student factory. He is very interested in mechanical engineering and robotics.

You hit the nail on the head with the needs, wants, grades and temperament part. Take care of those and the rest will take care of themselves. I went to a very small 3,000-student school for undergrad and a huge 50,000-student school for grad. I learned a lot at both places. There are many schools of all sizes around the country where you can study robotics. Find some you are interested in and talk to (or email) someone on the faculty. Tell them you are interested in mechanical engineering and robotics. See what they think. Good luck to you and your student.

34. I am currently a junior in high school. I am really interested in the field of robotics and I would like to know how to get involved in this field. On your site, you talked about making a robot hand in your garage. how?? Did your house have these materials just lying around? Does experimenting with different things at home require any special equipment? I would love to try and make different things at home and I need to also...my mom is starting to get mad about all of the electronic stuff I take apart all throughout the house.

All of my early work was made from electronic stuff I took apart around the house. Our garage had a drill press and a vice, but no precision tools. Tell your Mom not to be mad, you're learning to be an engineer.

There are kits for making robots that you can buy so you don't have to scrounge as many parts. Take a look at the ads in Robot magazine (botmag.com). You can buy decent servos at the hobby store for about $10 each and hook them to your computer with something like Servocenter from Yost engineering.

35. I am 42 and in the accounting field. I don't have a degree currently. I am very interested in consumer robotics, but am unsure if it is feasible for me to consider this. Any info you could provide would be appreciated.

I'm sure it's feasible, but I think the monetary penalty would be pretty high. You would lose at least a few years of salary while getting a degree and then you would be starting as a very junior engineer and would have a pretty low salary. Then you would be looking at 10 - 20 more years before you would have enough engineering experience to be a lead engineer on a robotics project. If you really wanted to do it, you could; but you would have to really want to.

36. I am a interested in robotics but am cautious about getting into the field and it being to crowded. I am a mechanical engineering major that plans to graduate in 2009. Do you think the robotics field will get to the point where there is more qualified workers than there is work?

There will be more demand than supply of good engineers that understand computer-controlled electro-mechanical systems for as far into the future as I can see.

37. My idols are Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein (I know the theory of relativity) and The Wright Brothers. I want to either become an engineer or a physicist. I'm only 12 years old, turning thirteen next year. So, let's get to the point. What kind of engineering do you think I should do? What kind of job do you think would suit me?

You asked me questions that only you can answer. Study and work on what you find most interesting.

38. I see you have P.E. after your name. What is a P.E.?

A Professional Engineer (P.E.) is a person who by reason of their knowledge of mathematics, the physical sciences and the principles of engineering, acquired by professional education and practical experience, is qualified to engage in the practice of professional engineering. To lawfully use that title a person must pass a series of exams, have multiple years of engineering experience, at least five positive references from other professional engineers and maintain a license from the state in which they practice.

39. Do you feel your pay is comparable to the amount of years you spent in college?

The money I earn is fine, but the real pay is the value I place on education.

40. What are some tools that you use regularly in your job?

The tools I use most often are an oscilloscope a Digital Multi Meter (DMM) and a computer.

41. Do you get vacation time from your job? How much?

I get two or three weeks vacation a year. As long as I am getting my job done, no one pays much attention to how much vacation time I take.

42. Do you ever travel for your job?

I generally travel two or three days a month.

43. If you get sick, can you work from home?

I could do some work from home, but a lot of my job duties require me to be at the office.

44. My son is 8. He wants to be a robotics engineer, but my husband is freaking out because he wants him to be a doctor.

He's only 8. By the time he grows up half of all surgeries will probably be performed by doctors controlling robots. The Da Vinci robot is already being used for gall bladder, prostate and even heart surgery. Do a search on Da Vinci robot and you will find lots of information. Maybe you could use his interest in robotics to expose him to medicine?

Here is the original post:

Rich Hooper, PhD, PE: Robotics Engineer

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In this paper, we present a recent survey on robotic grippers. In many cases, modern grippers outperform their older counterparts which are now stronger, more repeatable, and faster. Technological advancements have also attributed to the development of gripping various objects. This includes [...] Read more. In this paper, we present a recent survey on robotic grippers. In many cases, modern grippers outperform their older counterparts which are now stronger, more repeatable, and faster. Technological advancements have also attributed to the development of gripping various objects. This includes soft fabrics, microelectromechanical systems, and synthetic sheets. In addition, newer materials are being used to improve functionality of grippers, which include piezoelectric, shape memory alloys, smart fluids, carbon fiber, and many more. This paper covers the very first robotic gripper to the newest developments in grasping methods. Unlike other survey papers, we focus on the applications of robotic grippers in industrial, medical, for fragile objects and soft fabrics grippers. We report on new advancements on grasping mechanisms and discuss their behavior for different purposes. Finally, we present the future trends of grippers in terms of flexibility and performance and their vital applications in emerging areas of robotic surgery, industrial assembly, space exploration, and micromanipulation. These advancements will provide a future outlook on the new trends in robotic grippers. Full article

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Robotics | An Open Access Journal from MDPI