An Interactive Animated Display of Man- Controlled and Autonomous Robots

Abstract

An interactive computer graphics program has been developed which allows an operator to more readily control robot motions in two distinct modes, viz. man-controlled and autonomous. In man-controlled mode, the robot is guided by a joystick or similar device. As the robot moves, actual joint angle information is measured and supplied to a graphics system which accurately duplicates the robot motion. Obstacles are placed in the actual and animated workspace and the operator is warned of imminent collisions by sight and sound via the graphics system. In autonomous mode, a collision free path between specified points is obtained by previewing robot motions on the graphics system. Once a satisfactory path is selected, the path characteristics are transmitted to the actual robot and the motion is executed.