Design of Mobile Robot with Robotic Arm Utilising Microcontroller and Wireless Communication

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to design a prototype of a mobile robot equipped with a robotic arm which can be controlled by wireless technology.In this scheme, the mobile robot in the form of 6 Wheel Drive Robot equipped with robotic arm 6 Degree of Freedom and is controlled wirelessly through remote control based on XBee Pro Series 1. Data on the remote sent serially via XBee transmitter, processed on the receiver, and then used as a reference to control the robot.The tests on the forward, backwards, turn left, turn right, stop and linear movement of the robot was performed successfully, which elevates the robot deployment potentials.Keyword-Mobile robot, 6WD robot, Robotic arm 6 DOF, Robot remote control, Xbee pro I. INTRODUCTION The development of robotics technology basically aims to assist humans in performing a particular job, and it is a very fast evolving research field today.Some specific kinds of robots that can ease human task are mobile robots, the arm robot (manipulator robot), or a combination of both.Mobile robots are widely used for faster movement, especially on wheels.Arm robots are designed to hold, lift and move objects.While combining the two obviously aims to equip the robots with all the functions.The robotic systems can be controlled manually using a system of data transmission via cable, or via a wireless connection and several studies on this approach have been done before.A research in [1] constructs a mobile robot system modelling with Type-2 Fuzzy Logic control strategies based systems.Another in [2] describes the design and control the robot with two arms and has 7 Degree of Freedom (7 DOF).A study in [3] designed a robot arm with 4 DOF to perform the act of holding, lifting, placing and releasing objects individually.A research in [4] designed a mobile robot manipulator which can be controlled through wireless technology, and another in [5] designed robot with 6 wheels drive containing gas sensors used to detect dangerous gas leaks.Related to the works above, this research aims to design a robot with six-wheel-drive (6WD) which include six degree of freedom (6DOF) robotic arm that can be controlled through wireless technology. II. STATE OF THE ART A. Definition of RoboticsThe term robot was first introduced in English in 1921 by a Czechoslovakian playwright named Karel Capek in his play titled R.U.R (Rossum's Universal Robots).Robots in the earlier sense are "forced labour" which means slave labour, but in the modern sense of the word, the robot has undergone extension of meaning.According to The Robotics International Division of The Society of Manufacturing Engineers (RI/SME), the robot can be defined as "a reprogrammable and multifunctional manipulator designed to move material, parts, tools, and specialised devices through variable programmed motions for the performance of the variety of tasks".From the above, there are three keywords that show characteristics of a robot, which are: reprogrammable, multifunctional, and able to move material, parts, or tools (defined task manipulator).So the definition of robots, especially industrial robots is a multifunctional device designed to manipulate and transform tools or devices across a track that has been programmed to complete specific tasks.To be called as a modern robot system, a machine comprises at least three main things:1) Manipulator.A manipulator is a mechanical unit that performs the functions of the movement.In the robot, manipulator normally consists of a sleeve (main frame) and wrist.The function of this manipulator is to allow the robot to reach a certain position with precision.