This project demonstrates autonomous pick-and-place operations for a 6-DOF KUKA KR210 robot arm in a simulated ROS environment. It targets robotics engineers and researchers seeking to implement and understand robot kinematics, motion planning, and simulation for industrial automation tasks. The primary benefit is a functional, simulated pick-and-place system with detailed explanations of the underlying kinematic principles.

How It Works

The project leverages ROS (Robot Operating System) with Gazebo for simulation and MoveIt! for motion planning. It implements an analytical Inverse Kinematics (IK) solution for the KUKA KR210, breaking down the problem into position and orientation sub-problems by exploiting the robot's spherical wrist. The IK server receives end-effector poses and returns joint angles, enabling the robot to execute pick-and-place cycles.

Quick Start & Requirements

• Install: Clone the repository into a ROS Kinetic Kame catkin workspace.
• Prerequisites: Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, ROS Kinetic Kame, Gazebo 7.7.0+, MoveIt!.
• Setup: Requires installing ROS dependencies (rosdep install), building the workspace (catkin_make), and configuring environment variables (.bashrc).
• Demo: Launch simulation via ./safe_spawner.sh and run IK_server.py.
• Links: Project Repository

Highlighted Details

• Implements an analytical Inverse Kinematics solution for a 6-DOF KUKA KR210.
• Utilizes ROS, Gazebo, and MoveIt! for simulation and motion planning.
• Detailed theoretical background on robot kinematics, DH parameters, and homogeneous transforms.
• Achieved 100% success rate and near-zero EE error in simulation tests.

Maintenance & Community

• Project copyright © 2017 by Salman Hashmi.
• No explicit mention of ongoing maintenance or community channels (e.g., Discord, Slack).

Licensing & Compatibility

• The README mentions "See attached license" but does not specify the license type.
• BSD license is mentioned for some figures, but not for the project code itself.

Limitations & Caveats

• The project is based on ROS Kinetic Kame and Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, which are older versions and may require effort to run on modern systems.
• The README does not specify the exact license for the code, which could impact commercial use or integration into closed-source projects.