iLabit Robotica: A Photo-Realistic Extension for Robotics Toolbox

• Published in: IOP conference series. Materials Science and Engineering Vol. 1118; no. 1; p. 12014
• Main Authors: Kholodilin, Ivan, Savosteenko, Nikita, Abramov, Yuri, Lago, Luis A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bristol IOP Publishing 01.03.2021
• Subjects: Engineering education; Robot arms; Robotics; Simulation; Students; TCP/IP (protocol); Virtual environments
• ISSN: 1757-8981; 1757-899X
• DOI: 10.1088/1757-899X/1118/1/012014

This paper presents a photo-realistic extension for Robotics Toolbox (iLabit Robotica). Built using Unity, the proposed simulator integrates the 6-axis robot arm, sensors, and elements for interactions. iLabit Robotica is aimed to increase the quality of the engineering education and motivation of students towards the educational process, by providing a new beginning for the project-based learning (PBL) approach with the aid of virtual technologies. We strongly believe that by simulating real technological processes and integrating them into the educational process, students will not only achieve a valuable practical experience by solving “real-life” existing problems, but also a substantial interest towards the subject. We demonstrate the compatibility between our simulator and Robotics Toolbox by interacting with objects placed inside the virtual environment through Matlab via TCP/IP. Experiments demonstrate that the operating process is simple and it provides robust results and a higher measurement accuracy. The proposed simulator and supporting materials are available online: http://www.ilabit.org.