Background
UTuwente has 4 KUKA iDo robots currently. The iDos are powerful, modular and expandable platforms, well suited for research and education. But their hardware and core software are closed systems, limiting flexibility. Previous work has managed to access the actuators of the KUKA iDo robots by treating the systems as a “black box” and identifying the necessary commands to communicate with it. We would like to enable the iDo's to be used for staged experiments in healthcare facilitating fluent interfacing, rapid prototyping and improvisation.
Problem Definition
How can we operationalize the KUKA iDo robot by using the “black box” approach, and create an interface that allows future students to map the robot on various controllers and experiment with the robot easily?
Objectives
- Utilize existing work to get (at least)one KUKA iDo robot operational.
- Develop an interface that exposes robot controls for easy mapping and programming onto standard controllers.
- Document the system (interface and API).
Expected Outcomes
- A functional KUKA iDo robot using the “black box” method.
- A programmable interface that can map different controllers to the main functions of the robot.
- Documentation of the system and interface.
Used Tools and technology
- ROS, ROS2, microRos, C, C++, Python
- Ubuntu (PC), embedded targets, Raspberry Pico
- IMU, Lidar, Intel RealSense 3D camera