An open-source multi-DOF articulated robotic educational platform for autonomous object manipulation

• The proposed platform is centred on a 6 DOF serial robotic arm.
• An on-board camera permits development of autonomous applications. Other feedbacks include force and position sensors data.
• Derived kinematic and dynamic models of the robot offer readily implementation of the control strategies.
• The efficacy of the platform has been demonstrated by implementing two common industrial tasks; ‘pick and place’ and ‘sorting’.
• The open-source platform finds potential in training and teaching courses on Robotics, Control, Mechatronics and Image-processing.

This research presents an autonomous robotic framework for academic, vocational and training purpose. The platform is centred on a 6 Degree Of Freedom (DOF) serial robotic arm. The kinematic and dynamic models of the robot have been derived to facilitate controller design. An on-board camera to scan the arm workspace permits autonomous applications development. The sensory system consists of position feedback from each joint of the robot and a force sensor mounted at the arm gripper. External devices can be interfaced with the platform through digital and analog I/O ports of the robot controller. To enhance the learning outcome for beginners, higher level commands have been provided. Advanced users can tailor the platform by exploiting the open-source custom-developed hardware and software architectures. The efficacy of the proposed platform has been demonstrated by implementing two experiments; autonomous sorting of objects and controller design. The proposed platform finds its potential to teach technical courses (like Robotics, Control, Electronics, Image-processing and Computer vision) and to implement and validate advanced algorithms for object manipulation and grasping, trajectory generation, path planning, etc. It can also be employed in an industrial environment to test various strategies prior to their execution on actual manipulators.