Creation of a 3d robot model and its integration to a microsoft robotics studio simulation

Creation of a 3D Robot Model and its Integration to a Microsoft Robotics Studio Simulation
Darwin Sosa Gómez1, A. Menéndez. O.1, M. Arias E.2, A. Espinosa M.2, J. E. Lara R.1
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Universidad del Mar. Campus Puerto Escondido. Instituto Nacional de Astrofísica Óptica y Electrónica (INAOE). it fails or when bugs are detected, or software adaptations are needed. Simulation is the process ofdesigning a real system to perform experiments over it, with the purpose of understanding the behavior of the system or to evaluate new strategies – within the limits imposed by a certain criteria or a set of these – to know the functioning of the system [6]. The chosen software for this task was Microsoft Robotics Studio (MRS), a Windows®-based environment for hobbyists, academic and commercialdevelopers to create robotics applications for a variety of hardware platforms [2]. MRS brings a graphical data-flow-based programming model, which makes the programming process easier as much for the simulation as for the robot. It allows the creation of behavior routines that the model will use in the virtual simulation environment. Also, it allows the possibility of uploading the application into aphysical device. The project was divided into two main stages: the construction of the 3D robot model, with the integration of each one of its parts; and the incorporation of the model into a virtual simulation environment developed in MRS. II. CONSTRUCTION OF THE 3D MODEL AND THE INTEGRATION OF ITS PARTS

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Abstract - The objective of this paper is to publish the results obtained in a researchproject developed at INAOE. This project entails the construction of a manipulator-robot three-dimensional model and its incorporation into a simulation environment. The purpose is to analyze the behavior of the virtual prototype in order to adjust details of its operation before using an actual robot. I. INTRODUCTION

In general, experimenting on physical robotic mechanisms is complicated orimpossible because most of these devices are too expensive. Furthermore, during the experimental stage models might be damaged or it is not possible to keep them completely available at anytime; hence, the need to find new strategies to perform tests without putting the hardware at risk. A good option for these strategies is simulation using 3D modeling. A 3D model is the virtual representation ofan object and the relationship between the values of the variables associated with its articulations [1] [5]. In this experiment the 3D model is created first, then it is tested in a simulation environment allowing the execution of diverse tests on the mechanisms without the need of performing these on the actual device. As a result, we avoided complex work of reprogramming the robot every timeThis stage consisted on creating the 3D robot model in order to incorporate it into MRS. So it became necessary to
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use a 3D modeling software that would help in the construction of the robot model, which was later inserted into the MRS simulator. To create the 3D model, the modeling software Autodesk 3Ds Max was used, because it has the capacity to generate files with the characteristicsrequired for MRS, that is, static objects description files (*.OBJ), which can be later transformed into dynamic objects description files (*.BOS). These last ones contain the characteristics that a model must have. In this phase, the modeling of five robot components was performed: base, pedestal, robotic arm, tray arm and camera. Base It is the element in charge of the robot’s navigation. Takingas a reference the iCreate robot of iRobot company (Fig. 1), this robot has: an omnidirectional receptor for infrared signals, four sensors located in the bumper and two in the main wheels. Figure 2 shows the 3D model of the base.

It is located on the central part of the base; it acts as the base for the robotic arm, the tray arm and the camera. Figure 3 shows the pedestal model, located in...