Teaching and learning robotic arm model

Abstract

In this paper, the design and development of a robotic arm controller that enables use of a robotic arms as practical laboratory model for teaching and learning of robot arm algorithms is presented. The proposed system consists of OWI robotic arm with 5-Degrees Of Freedom (DOF) with DC motors for each joint movement, Arduino based control unit for control of arm motion and a MATLAB based Graphical User Interface (GUI) with kinematics algorithm at the backend providing user friendly environment for controlling the end-effector of robot arm remotely. The robotic arm is equipped with accelerometers to provide feedback to the microcontroller. The kinematics algorithm is implemented in MATLAB. The MATLAB based GUI, Arduino controller and accelerometers together with the robotic arm provide the practical laboratory model of teaching learning robotic arm platform. This robot arm also provides stand alone operation for pick and place application with the use of Arduino controller and accelerometers.