2011 3rd International Conference on Computer and Network Technology (ICCNT 2011)

A Brief Survey of Commercial Robotic Arms for Research on Manipulation Zhenli Lu1,3,a, Aneesh Chauhan1,b, Filipe Silva1,2,c and Luís Seabra Lopes1,2,d 1.

IEETA, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, 3810-193, Portugal DETI, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, 3810-193, Portugal 3. Shenyang Ligong University, Shenyang, 110168, P.R.China a. [email protected]; b. [email protected]; c. [email protected]; d. [email protected] 2.

Abstract—Presently a vast variety of robust robotic arms is available commercially, some of which are extremely reliable in precision and repeatability. This makes them an ideal tool for research focused on manipulation. However, there is a lack of an easily accessible comparative analysis that can assist researchers in choosing an arm that fits their research objectives. With an objective to provide such an analysis, this paper provides a comparative survey of the state of the art in commercial robotic arms - classified based on their price, performance and suitability for research on manipulation. These arms are categorized into four classes: cheap educational arms, low price industrial arms, research oriented arms and modular light weight arms. Within each classification, some typical robotic arms are analyzed in detail to provide an overview of the functional capacities of the arms in that particular class. Keywords - robotic arm; manipulation; light weight robot (LWR); research oriented arm

I.

INTRODUCTION

Robotic arms, as typical mechatronic products, are widely manufactured and sold all over the word. Hundreds of kinds of arms are available through a multitude of companies, where these arms are primarily developed to assist in industrial production and assembly lines. By installing different tools on their standard wrist interfaces, these arms are being used in many applications that require great precision and repeatability (e.g. welding, manipulation, spraying). Most of the research on improving the design and performance of the mechanical and control systems of the commercially available arms is carried out by the robotic companies and their collaborating labs. The reliability and robustness of these arms make them an important product and an invaluable test bed for the research units investigating novel intelligent control designs and applications. Therefore, from the perspective of a researcher, choosing a suitable robot arm and its controller is a crucial research decision. This paper is the product of almost one year of extensive market research (through internet and active communication with robot manufacturing companies) and compiles the collected information in the form of a survey of the state of the art in commercially available robotic arms. Depending on their target market, different companies build robotic arms with different functionalities and performance. Based on the technical specifications, these arms can be sold from relatively low prices to some surprisingly high ones. Especially for the institutes looking

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for robotic arms, different research objectives will result in completely different choices. Besides considering the standard parameters of arms – degrees of freedom (DOF), payload, repeatability, weight, workspace dimensions etc. – attention also needs to be paid to the controller, flexibility to add new sensing devices, possibility to integrate new and existing software, availability of the software simulator, after sales service, etc. For future scalability, it is extremely important to take these parameters into consideration early on, before a final purchase decision is made. This survey enumerates and introduces robotic arms that are suitable for open research problems on intelligent manipulation and control. The surveyed arms have been categorized into four classes: 1) Cheap educational arms: These arms are relatively cheap, with a price range between 300 and 500 Euros. Equipped with a simple controller and cheap motors, these arms are not very precise and their functionality limited. However, such arms will suit educators, hobbyists and researchers if they are investigating simple joint control and manipulation tasks. For the website links to some of the companies that offer such arms please see [1]–[5]. 2) Low price industrial arms: The arms in this category offer high precision, robustness and repeatability. They normally come with powerful controllers that can be programmed to achieve desired actions with a high degree of repeatability. An added advantage is that the companies that offer such robots (for example, KUKA, ABB, Motoman, Mitsubishi) normally offer special discounts for educational institutions. For some research institutes, these arms are the product of choice. However, the controllers (and associated software) of these robots are normally not open to the institutes buying these arms, making them a poor choice for investigations involving on low level motor control. The references [6]–[13] provide website links to some of the companies offering arms that fall in this category. 3) Research oriented arms: These arms are designed especially for the purpose of conducting research. On the one hand, they overcome the limitations of the “low price industrial arms”. On the other hand, they are not ideal for real world industrial applications. Some of the companies and institutes that offer research arms can be visited online at [14]–[17]. 4) Modular light weight arms: These arms are the state of the art in robotic arm technology. Being modular and lightweight, they are suitable for both industrial and domestic applications. In comparison to the arms in other categories, the price tag is significantly higher. For the environment that requires unrestricted human robot

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interactions, these arms provide a safe, versatile and robust research platform. These arms are an ideal tool for the institutes that can afford the price. Links to some of the companies that manufacture modular light weight arms are available in [18],[19]. This is a survey of the robotic arms that can be used as a platform for multiple open research problems and not of arms that are developed only for specific applications. For that reason many robotic companies (for example IGM [20]) that develop arms only for specialized applications (welding, palletizing etc.) are excluded in this survey. Such strictly application oriented designs lead to robotic arms that are expensive and ill-suited to the research objectives that this survey is intended for. The remainder of this paper is organized as follows: section II introduces some typical cheap educational arms; section III presents low price industrial arms and analyzes four of them in further detail; three research arms are discussed in detail in section IV; section V introduces two modular light weight arms; and section VI concludes the survey. II.

2a). This allows an increase in the payload capacity. Most of the other cheap arms use tape or glue in these critical stress areas. The wrist assembly of SG6-UT contains integrated slots (on top of the wrist joint and on the gripper fingers) to accommodate multiple sensing components (see Fig. 2b). TABLE I.

CHEAP EDUCATIONAL ROBOTIC ARMS

Most of the arms in this category are manufactured using aluminum and/or PVC (polyvinyl chloride) and their joints are supported by cheap Direct Current (DC) servo motors (see Fig. 1) [1] – [5].

Name

DOF

Pay load (g)

Max. reach (mm)

Arm trainer [1]

5

130

510

AL5D [2] Edubot100 [3] RCS-6 kit [4] SG6-UT [5]

6 5 6 6

110 100 50 403

482.6 350 609.6 495.3

Control system

Approx. price (€)

Motor board RIOS Robotica C++ PBASIC

305.00 1,285.00 455.00 455.00

a Fig.2. (a) Pivot point [5]

III.

70.00

b (b) Gripper [5]

LOW PRICE INDUSTRIAL ROBOTIC ARMS

The cheap educational arms and their controllers are suitable only for very basic manipulation functions. In the experiments where precision and repeatability are crucial, these arms become a poor alternative. The low price industrial arms come with powerful controllers and offer high precision, robustness and repeatability. The high performance of these arms makes them a good candidate for advanced research on manipulation.

a b Fig. 1. (a) Arm trainer ( PVC arm) [1] (b) SG6-UT (aluminum arm) [5]

TABLE II.

These arms are available with 5/6 DOF, several of them priced under 500 Euros. They normally include a rotating base, a single plane shoulder, an elbow, a wrist, a two-finger gripper and in some case a rotational wrist. The manipulation of motors is handled using either a microcontroller or a motor-control board. Using serial communication (via RS232 or USB), the controller can exchange information with an external computer. This gives a certain level of flexibility to the user, such that heavy computations (inverse kinematics, communication with other sensors etc.) can be carried out on the computer. It is relatively easy to program these arms to demonstrate external joint control and some simple actions (e.g. pick and place). Table I lists some of the commercially available cheap robotic arms and their specifications. Amongst the listed arms, SG6-UT [5], a 6DOF arm provided by CrustCrawler, adopts a more advanced design in comparison to others. The later part of this section will detail the key advantages this arm offers. All motor pivot points of SG6-UT use integrated pem stud pivot point, which provides an extra support and resistance to stress induced by weight on the arm joints (Fig.

PARAMETERS OF CHEAP EDUCATIONAL ROBOTIC ARMS

LIST OF LOW PRICE INDUSTRIAL ROBOTIC ARMS

Name

DOF

IRB 120 [6] KR 5 R650 [7] RV-1A-S11 [8] Viper S650 [9] SSF 2000 [10] C3-A601S [11] TX40 [12] FS03N [13]

6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6

Pay load (kg) 3 5 1.5 5 6 5 2.3 3

Position repeatability (mm) ±0.01 ±0.02 ±0.02 ±0.02 ±0.08 ±0.02 ±0.02 ±0.05

Max. reach (mm) 580 650 418 653 2,403 665 515 700

Approx price (€) 17k 20k 17k 27k 20k 25k 20k 20k

During the survey, eight prominent robot manufacturing companies, that build robotic arms falling in this category, have been contacted. Table II lists the corresponding products from each of these companies along with their key specifications [6]–[13]. Amongst these arms, four (Fig.3) will be detailed in the following subsections. The discussion on these arms also provides a general idea of what can be expected from the rest of the arms. A. IRB 120 IRB 120 [6] (Fig. 3a) is the smallest arm manufactured by ABB. The small size of the arm makes it suitable for a

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research environment with limited space. With 6 DOF and the physical reach of 580mm, this 25 kg arm can handle payloads up to 3kg. The position repeatability of this robot is in the range ±0.01mm.

a

b

c d Fig. 3. (a) IRB 120 [6] (b) KR5 SIXX R850 [7] (c) RV-1A-S11 [8] (d) Adept Viper s650 [9]

The arm is equipped with a powerful controller (IRC5) which can be programmed using RAPID (a programming language developed by ABB to control their robots) [21]. For offline programming and investigation, ABB also offers a 3D visualization simulator (RobotStudio). To control the robot from a computer, ABB provides the WEBWARE software development kit (SDK) [22]. This SDK however is only available for Microsoft Windows operating systems. The communication between the controller and an external device can be done using sockets. Hence, to a limited extent, the arm can be controlled using an external device (e.g. a computer with Linux) that supports socket based communication. B. KR5 SIXX R650 KR5 SIXX R650 [7] (Fig. 3b) is a 6 DOF robotic arm manufactured by KUKA. This arm weighs 29kg, has a working range of 650mm and can support payloads up to 5kg. The position repeatability of this arm is ± 0.02 mm. Similar to IRB 120, this arm has a compact design, making it suitable for research environments with space limitations. This robot is controlled using “KR C2 sr” controller that can be programmed using KSS 7.0 (Kuka System Software) [23]. This software allows robot control from a Microsoft Windows based machines and the robot can be programmed using KRL (Kuka Robot Language, a programming language designed by KUKA for controlling their robots). The robot's controller also supports socket based communication and can be controlled through external devices other than those based on MS Windows platform. For offline programming and control analysis, KUKA also provides KUKA.sim simulator [24]. The structural design of the arm also facilitates integration of many industrial sensors. C. RV-1A-S11 RV-1A-S11 [8] (Fig. 3c) is a robotic arm produced by Mitsubishi. It is a 19kg arm, supports 6 DOF and has

maximum reach of 418mm. It can carry payloads up to 1.5kg and has the position repeatability within the range ±0.02mm. This arm is supported by a 64-bit controller (CR1-571) [25], which is designed to facilitate communication between the controller and the external devices. This controller supports networking using both Ethernet and CC-Link technology. CR1-571 can be programmed using MELFABASIC IV robot programming language, designed especially for a range of Mitsubishi robots. A 3D simulation software (MELFA-Works) is also available, which can be used as an add-on for SolidWorks 3D CAD design software [26]. A vast range of grippers, sensors and many other external components can also be selected from different libraries and integrated directly into the MELFA-Works environment [27]. “RT Toolbox2” application under MELFA-Works provides enhanced robot programming and simulation capabilities that allows for the possibility of designing and simulating novel applications on the simulated robotic arm platform [28]. MELFA-Works is available only for the MS Windows platform. D. Adept Viper s650 Adept Viper s650 [9] (Fig. 3d) is a six-DOF robotic arm that weighs 28kg and has a physical reach of 653mm. The maximum payload of this arm is 5kg and the position repeatability is ±0.02mm. This robot comes with the Adept SmartController CX motion controller that can optionally also support vision based sensing [29]. The controller uses the V+ operating system designed by Adept for its robots [30]. V+ programming language can then be used within this operating system for programming high-level control functions. The communication between an external device and the controller is supported using TCP/IP communication protocols. Adept also develops AdeptNet, which is a networking product that allows multiple Adept robots and other external devices to work together on an Ethernet based Local Area Network (LAN). E. Some observations about the arms in “low price industrial arms” category This category consists of high performance and high precision industrial arms. Although these arms are manufactured for lightweight industrial applications, they provide a valuable platform for research applications too. Equipped with powerful controllers and versatile networking equipments, they can also communicate with many external devices. All these arms have standard gripper interface which is compatible with many different types of industry standard grippers. Multiple other sensing devices can also be incorporated with most of these gripper interfaces. The key disadvantage with these arms is – the software available for most of the controllers is only developed for MS Windows platform and therefore if one wants to use another platform, separate software will have to be developed. Besides, the possibility of arm control from an external device is only limited to the high-level functions available in the APIs (Application Programming Interface) developed by the arm manufacturers. This means that it is

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very hard to realize and investigate low-level control functions. IV.

RESEARCH ORIENTED ROBOTIC ARMS

The arms in this category are designed especially for research use. The companies that develop these arms consider research institutes and universities as their primary market. Research oriented arms are developed to provide an open platform for research on manipulation. Contrary to the low price industrial arms, their controller software is: generally designed using C language (that is, no special or new programming languages have been designed specifically for their robot controllers); and the software of these controllers is open to the users and is available for both MS Windows and Linux platforms. These arms have been designed to facilitate integration with new sensing devices and can incorporate many different sensors that are compatible (and controllable) with the control software provided with the arm. The next subsections introduce research arms from three different companies, and their key specifications are presented in Table III. TABLE III.

LIST OF RESEARCH ORIENTED ROBOTIC ARMS

Name

DOF

NeuroArm3.1 [14] Katana 450 [15] UR-6-85-5-A [16]

6 6 6

Pay load (kg) 0.75 0.4 5

Position repeatability (mm) Not available ±0.01 ±0.01

Max. reach (mm) 880 517 850

Approx price (€) 4k 25k 16k

A. NeuroArm 3.1 NeuroArm 3.1 [14] (Fig. 4) is one of the research arms manufactured by NeuroRobotics. It is a 6 DOF arm, weighing 5kg, has the maximum reach of 600mm and can handle payloads up to 0.75kg.

Fig. 4. NeuroArm 3.1 [14]

The arm’s low level control and sensor monitoring is carried out using the Atmel Atmega128 microcontroller unit. This controller functions along with proportional-derivative (PD) control algorithms and position sensors at each robot joint. This allows for real-time, closed loop position control and open loop velocity control. The robot can communicate with external devices using RS232 serial interface. The controller software is available both for MS Windows and Linux. NeuroRobotics also provides a simulator for this arm developed in Webots 3D simulation platform. Many sensors can be easily integrated into the arm to further facilitate “intelligent” sensor-based manipulation control. Most of these sensors are available from NeuroRobotics. For example – force sensors for the grippers; stereoscopic camera for real-time tracking; and haptic interface for remote arm control by a human user. The key disadvantages of this arm are: the highly complex

mechanical system; and the relatively small payload capacity. For further details on the specifications of this arm, please see [14],[31]. B. Katana 450 Katana 450 [33] (Fig. 5a) is a 6 DOF robotic arm manufactured by Neuronics and is sold as both an industrial and a research platform. It weighs 4.8 kg and has a maximum reach of 517mm. The position repeatability of this arm is ± 0.1 mm and it can handle payloads up to 0.4 kg [32]. Katana 450 Uni Kit (Fig.5b) provides complete low level motor control function.

a Fig. 5. (a) Katana 450 [33]

b (b) Katana 450 Uni Kit [33]

The control system of Katana 450 is based on RT-Linux (Real-Time Linux), where Linux kernel runs in the background while priority is given to processes that control the robotic arm hardware. Each axis of the arm is controlled using TI-TMS320 32bit motor controller. The controller communicates with the arm hardware using a CAN bus, while there are many different options available for communicating with external devices (Ethernet, USB etc.). To control the robot from another device, the controller supports information communication using TCP/IP [34]. For developing custom applications to control the arm, Neuronics provides a powerful open-source C++ library (KNI – Katana Native Interface) [35]. KNI also has an interface for programs written in python and matlab. The programs written in KNI can control the robot from an external device and can also be run directly on the robot’s controller. For ease of use, Neuronics provide Katana4D software. Katana4D is high-level software environment which can be used to directly control the arm from a computer. It comes with many inbuilt functionalities and algorithms (a scripting language, AI algorithms, possibility of teaching the arm by hand amongst others). Based on the above features, Katana 450 is a good research platform for manipulation. The key disadvantages are: low payload of 0.4kg (which does not include the gripper); and at present does not come with a simulator. C. UR-6-85-5-A UR-6-85-5-A (Fig. 6) is an industrial robotic arm developed by Universal Robots [16]. Since certain parts of the robot controller can be opened for certain customers namely research institute, this robot is classified as a research arm.

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repeatability of the arm is in the range ±0.5 mm. The weight of the arm and its payload capacity depends on the arm configuration (19 kg weight and 9kg payload for the 6 axis configuration) [18]. Fig. 6. UR-6-85-5-A [36]

The key specifications of this arm are: weight, 18kg; DOF, 6; payload, 5kg; working radius, 850mm; and repeatability, ±0.1 mm. For in depth details of the robot’s technical specifications please see [37]. The robot comes with a powerful controller which has multiple digital and analog I/O ports for communication between the controller and the arm, as well as, the controller and other external devices. The robot also comes with an electrical interface that is compatible with many industrial sensors and PLCs (Programmable Logic Controller). The control software of the arm is based on C programming language. To program actions at the lowest level of the control system architecture, Universal Robots provides a C based API. The robot also comes with a graphical interface (PolyScope). This interface is a high-level software environment, designed for users with limited technical skills, which can be used to program the actions of the robot from a computer. V. MODULAR LIGHT WEIGHT ARMS The arms in this category have been designed especially to work in natural environments, where active collaboration with and working alongside humans is necessary. These arms are state of the art light weight mechatronic devices which have very high payload capacity with respect to their own structural weight. Designing such robots brings completely different/new challenges. The design of these arms is modular in nature, that is, various parts are developed as independent modules. For example, each joint has integrated electronics and sensing capabilities, which leads to the real-time state awareness of each joint independently. The modularity principle is applied not just in the design of joints, but also to the controller and other electronic and sensing devices on the robot. The information from various modules is integrated to obtain the complete state information of the robot. To reduce the arm weight, while maintaining the strength, various lightweight materials have been used in designing the structure, controller, motors etc. As of now, in comparison to the arms in the other categories, the modular lightweight arms are priced significantly higher. In the following subsections, two typical modular light weight arms (Fig. 7) are introduced along with some of their specifications. A. Robotnik modular robotic arm This arm (Fig. 7a) is based on the Schunk PowerCube modules. This arm can come in three different configurations (5-7 DOF). This is a direct consequence of the modular architecture, since independent (and compatible) joint modules can be easily integrated into the arm configuration with fewer DOF. Based on the configuration, the maximum arm reach can range from 400 to 1300 mm. The position

a b Fig. 7. (a) Robotnik modular robot arm [38] (b) Kuka light-weight arm [39]

The controller cabinet and the power unit of the arm are integrated directly into the arm structure. This is accomplished by using modular servo actuators for each axis, where each actuator has its own power unit and controller. The communication and control from the external devices can be carried out using the CAN bus. The control software is run directly on a computer which communicates with the arm in real time. This software is developed using C++ and is open-source. Apart form the control software, Robotnik also provides the software drivers for each actuator control for both Linux and Windows. A 3D simulation environment deigned in Simulink (Matlab) is also available from the robot manufacturers [38]. B. Kuka Light Weight Robot (LWR) arm LWR (Fig. 7b) is a 7 DOF modular light weight arm developed by KUKA, where each of the seven axis has integrated torque sensors. The arm weighs 15kg and has a payload of 7kg. The maximum reach of the arm is 868 mm and the repeatability accuracy is ± 0.05 mm. The robot is equipped with KRC 2 lr controller. The control software is designed such that it is easy for the nonexpert users to program the robot from a computer or a teaching pendant. The controller also allows for “hands on” teaching, that is, the robot can be taught to accomplish repetitive tasks by manually moving the arm in sequential steps [39]. VI.

CONCLUSION

This paper presented a brief survey of the current state of the art in commercial robotic arms that can be taken as viable platforms for research on manipulation. The arms were divided into four categories based on their technical specifications, functionalities and performance. For each category, a set of typical arms were introduced and their specifications discussed. For each of these categories, following conclusions can be drawn: 1) Cheap educational arms are a good platform for investigating basic motor and joint control. However, these arms are not very precise and their payload capacity is very low. Therefore, their applicability in the research on precise manipulation is not advised. These arms, however, will interest educators and research enthusiasts as an introductory research platform. 2) Low price industrial arms are a good choice for building the research platform for high performance manipulation. Although these arms are designed for

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industrial applications, they will suit the needs of many research areas that require high precision and repeatability. Many robotics companies offer arms in this category and there is a huge variety of products to choose from. These arms also have standard interface for easy integration with many industrial sensors. The key disadvantages with these arms are: controller and control software are not open to the users; and the APIs available to control these arms from computers are available only for the Windows operating system. 3) Research oriented arms offer a substitute for the low price industrial arms, when the research objectives require controllers and control software to be open to the user. These arms offer a research platform where investigation can be carried out on both high and low level arm controls. Most research arms have their controllers developed using C/C++ and their APIs are available for Windows and Linux operating systems. 4) The modular and light weight robot arms are designed based on the principle of modularity. Each of their components (hardware or software) are designed such that they can be divided into separate modules and can perform actions independently. The world state of the arm is derived from the existing state of each module in real-time. These arms are suitable for conducting research in unrestricted and uncontrolled environments. ACKNOWLEDGMENT The Portuguese research foundation (FCT) partially supported this work under contract SFRH/BD/31577/2006 (PhD grant to the second author). We thank all the robot companies and their local suppliers to give us the technical information and help by email and telephone during the survey on the robot arm. REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]

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