A Simulink-based robotic toolkit for simulation and control of the PUMA 560 robot manipulator

In this paper, a Simulink Robotic Toolkit (SRTK) for the Puma 560 robot manipulator is developed on the MATLAB/SIMULINK-based platform. Through the use of the Real-Time Linux Target and the Real-Time Windows Target, the SRTK can be executed on the Linux or Win32-based operating systems (e.g., Windows 95/98/NT) in real-time. Moreover, the graphical user-friendly nature of Simulink allows the SRTK to be a flexible tool that can easily be customized to fit the specific needs of the user. That is, based on the layered approach of the SRTK, the user can perform operations such as calibration, joint control, Cartesian control, Cartesian PD control, impedance control, some trajectory generation tasks, and real-time simulation of the Puma 560 through a user-friendly MATLAB-based graphical user interface (GUI) without writing any code. One of the key features of the toolkit is that users can easily incorporate additional functionality and hardware through the simple block diagram interface that Simulink provides. Moreover, the MATLABbased GUI can also easily be modified to allow the user to exploit the added functionality with the GUI by using straightforward MATLAB script files. Hence, the SRTK allows a researcher to use the Puma 560 without the burden of the external issues related to the control, interface, and software issues, while providing for the flexibility for easily modifying components for increased functionality.