Rover design and simulation

Project Overview

In this exciting project, I developed a teleoperable mobile rover equipped with a versatile manipulator arm, demonstrating advanced robotics concepts like forward and inverse kinematics. The rover, modeled and simulated using Gazebo and validated with Sympy, is designed for precise manipulation tasks.

Rover and Manipulator Specifications

The rover system combines a mobile base with three degrees of freedom (DOF) and a sophisticated six-DOF manipulator arm, totaling nine DOFs. With dimensions of 850mm in height, 1694mm in length, and 750mm in breadth, the rover serves as a robust platform for the manipulator, which extends to a height of 1.73 meters. All manipulator joints are revolute, offering extensive flexibility and precision.

Forward Kinematics

I focused on forward kinematics to determine precise positions and orientations of the rover's arm links, leveraging transformation matrices calculated from joint variables.

Inverse Kinematics

Inverse kinematics enabled smooth and accurate movement of the arm's vacuum gripper, achieving target positions through calculated joint angles derived from the Jacobian matrix.

Teleoperation and Simulation

The robot's teleoperation functionality, visualized in Gazebo and Rviz, allows users to interact intuitively with objects like cubes. The simulation demonstrates key practical capabilities: picking up objects using a vacuum gripper and placing them at designated locations.

Challenges and Solutions

Throughout the project, I overcame challenges such as joint misalignments between SolidWorks CAD models and URDF simulations, as well as stability issues resolved by implementing velocity controllers. These experiences emphasized the importance of accurate joint configurations and comprehensive simulation testing.

Future Enhancements

This Mars Rover project not only showcases successful kinematic implementations but also lays a foundation for future enhancements, including advanced path planning, motion planning, perception capabilities, and interchangeable end-effectors.

Conclusion

Ultimately, this project highlights my ability to integrate theoretical robotics concepts into practical solutions, ensuring precise and resilient robotic operations.