This presentaiton is done in a coursework in the course special assignment in factory automation in FAST Laboratory. It introduces the usage of Matlab in realtime control and collosion detection by controlling two ABB IRB140 Robots.

1. Robot Cell Modeling and Collision Detection
Based on Matlab
•Date: Oct, 2012 Special Assignment in Factory
•Course: TTE-5707 Special Assignment Automation (coursework)
in Factory Automation @ FAST-Lab.
Title of the presentation: Robot Cell
Modelling and Collision Detection Based
on Matlab
Authors: Xiangbin Xu (Int. M.Sc.
Programme in Machine Automation)
Contact information Dr. Andrei Lobov (Assoc. Professor)
Tampere University of Technology, Prof. Jose L. Martinez Lastra, Dr.Sc.
FAST Laboratory,
P.O. Box 600,
FIN-33101 Tampere,
Finland
Email: fast@tut.fi If you would like to receive a reprint of
the original paper, please contact us
www.tut.fi/fast
1

2. Robot Cell Modeling and Collision
Detection Based on Matlab
Xiangbin Xu (Int. M.Sc. Programme in Machine Automation)
Supervisors:
Dr. Andrei Lobov (Assoc. Professor)
Prof. Jose L. Martinez Lastra, Dr.Sc.
Tampere University of Technology, Finland
Factory Automation Systems and Technologies Laboratory

3. Motivation
• Robot cell modeling is beneficial for trajectory planning and the control process of the
industrial robots.
• Real-time monitoring provides handy access to the current status of the industrial
robots
• Collision detection helps prevent the manipulator from colliding with the other one or
the conveyors.
• ABB IRB 140 is one of the most widely used industrial robots. It has 6-DOF with six
revolute joints.
The figures show the actual
robot cell and its model.
Figure 1 Actual robot cell Figure 2 Robot cell model

4. GUI and Communication
• Graphic user interface
A graphic user interface as shown in the figure
on the right is developed for selecting the default
layout of the conveyors or defining customized layout.
Figure 3 Graphic user interface
• Communication between the model and the robot controller
The robot controller is connected to a PC through Ethernet. For the Matlab robot
model application, ABB PC SDK is integrated. The following illustration shows the
integration between the Matlab application and the IRC5 controller.
Figure 4 Communication between the model and the controller

5. Real-time Monitoring and Collision Detection
• Real-time monitoring
The robot model follows and displays the path of
the manipulators.
Figure 5 Real-time monitoring
• Collision detection
The color of the robot model changes when any of
the manipulators collides with the other one or with
any of the conveyors.
Figure 6 Collision detection

6. Summary
• The robot cell model and collision detection are realized by using Matlab
• The robot model is created with the help of the Robotics Toolbox
• ABB PC SDK is integrated for the communication between the model and
the robot controller
• The path and collision of the manipulators are displayed
• A user interface is developed for the reconfiguration of the layout of the
conveyors so that the cell model can be modified and updated, the
manipulators then use updated cell model for collision detection
The video of this project can be found from FAST Laboratory’s YouTube channel

7. Thank you!
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