An Educational Robotic Workstation based on the Rhino XR4 robot

Abstract

This article describes a locally developed educational robotic workstation for laboratory experiments on robotic manipulation. The station was implemented around the Rhino XR4 robot. Due to the station educational purposes, the Matlab computational environment was chosen for robot control and user interface. As only the mechanical structure of this desktop robot was purchased, the following tasks were undertaken. First, the design and construction of a novel robot controller. Second, the development of a Matlab toolbox that includes: generic robotic functions, specific functions for the Rhino robot, and a three-dimensional computer graphical simulator. Third, the development of a suitable programming environment for robot operation. Fourth, the development of laboratory experiments for teaching robotics. The user interface allows the students to program experiences on robotics, such as, direct and inverse kinematics, manipulation tasks, trajectory following and visual guided movements. Experiments can be performed with the robot or with its graphical simulator.