QRobot – A Multitasking PC Based Robot Control System

In this paper, we describe QRobot, a low level real-time PC-based system for controlling PUMA robot manipulators. Specifically, we illustrate how a standard PUMA controller can be retrofitted with interface boards that allow it to be connected to an industry standard PC. All computational units are removed from the existing PUMA controller, and the PC assumes the role of computing the control strategy. A low level control is implemented for a PUMA 560 manipulator. The low level control software is then connected to two high level software environments (RCCL and ARCL) for purposes of high level trajectory generation, kinematics, inverse kinematics, etc. Excellent tracking results are obtained with both systems. Some limitations of the two high level software environments were discovered during the development of QRobot. These limitations provide the motivation for the future development of a new object oriented robot control system. 1 Introduction Over the last ten years, the U.S. Department of Energy has become increasingly concerned with the decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) of numerous laboratory/production facilities that contain hazardous materials. Since the use of telerobotic systems provides a means for achieving human performance capabilities without human exposure, many researchers have proposed the use of advanced sensor-based telerobotic systems to accelerate ongoing D&D operations and overcome the potential safety problems. Indeed, there are probably few problem domains that are more appropriate candidates for telerobotic technology than D&D operations. To facilitate the development of low cost teleoperated systems, we are currently investigating the feasibility of designing a PC-based robot control system for PUMA robot manipulators as part of a Semi-Autonomous Decommissioning of Hazardous Waste Project for the U.S. Department of Energy [1].