Robot kinematics made easy using RoboAnalyzer software

Abstract

Abstract RoboAnalyzer is a software based on 3D model of robots. It was developed primarily for teaching and learning of robot mechanics, although it is robust enough for the use by researchers as well. The motive behind the development of RoboAnalyzer was mainly to help teachers and students get started with teaching/learning of robotics using template‐based skeleton models or CAD models of serial robots. This minimizes the time otherwise spent on modeling, programming, and simulating the robots from scratch. In this article, we focus on the visualization of the Denavit Hartenberg (DH) parameters used to define a robot's architecture, and the modeling of the robot's input‐output motion characteristics, that is, robot kinematics, using them. The advantages of using RoboAnalyzer to overcome several challenges of learning robotics in a classroom environment are also discussed.