Biotronica_Electronica: julio 2011

DARPA Arm Robot Controlled via LabVIEW

DARPA Arm Robot Controlled via LabVIEW: "

By now, you’ve all heard of one of DARPA’s latest robotics projects, but just in case:

http://www.thearmrobot.com/

DARPA is introducing its Autonomous Robotic Manipulation (ARM) program. The goal of this 4 year, multi-track program is to develop software and hardware that allows an operator to control a robot which is able to autonomously manipulate, grasp and perform complicated tasks, given only high-level direction. Over the course of the program in the Software Track, funded performers will be developing algorithms that enables the DARPA robot to execute these numerous tasks. DARPA is also making an identical robot available for public use, allowing anyone the opportunity to write software, test it in simulation, upload it to the actual system, and then watch, in real-time via the internet, as the DARPA robot executes the user’s software. Teams involved in this Outreach Track will be able to compete and collaborate with other teams from around the country.

One of NI’s R&D engineers, Karl, has developed a LabVIEW wrapper for the DARPA arm simulator in his spare time and has graciously shared it on the NI Robotics Code Exchange (ni.com/code/robotics).

Using Karl’s code, you can directly control the arm simulator using LabVIEW. This means you develop your own control code and easily create UIs using LabVIEW’s graphical programming environment (two of the things LabVIEW is best for).

Check out Karl’s blog to request the code:

DARPA Arm Robot Controlled via LabVIEW

More LabVIEW Development for the Xbox Kinect

More LabVIEW Development for the Xbox Kinect: "

So remember when I said the Xbox Kinect was going to revolutionize robotics (at least from a sensor-hardware point of view)?

Well, when it rains, it pours: More and more LabVIEW developers are uniting, creating and sharing drivers that allow you to communicate with the Xbox Kinect hardware using LabVIEW software.

An NI Community member, anfredres86, has published his VI driver library, making it easy to download and install the necessary files for you to start developing robotics applications in LabVIEW that utilize the Kinect hardware for robot sensing.

Here is a video of the 2D occupancy grid mapping example he put together using LabVIEW and the Kinect:

I encourage everyone to check out (and download) his code:

Kinect Drivers for Labview: http://decibel.ni.com/content/docs/DOC-15655

And be sure to share your examples on the NI Robotics Code Exchange as well!

Kinect 6D Visualization in LabVIEW

Kinect 6D Visualization in LabVIEW: "

The LabVIEW Kinect code keeps rolling in. I am happy to share yet another example that is available for free download.

This one is very similar to John Wu’s LabVIEW + Kinect example I shared awhile back. Karl Muecke, NI R&D engineer, shares his 6D visualization example on the NI Robotics Code Exchange.

You can view a video screen capture of the demo and download his open source code here:

https://decibel.ni.com/content/blogs/MechRobotics/2011/04/19/kinect-6d-visualization-in-labview

Open Source Code: Using XBox Kinect with the LabVIEW Robotics Starter Kit

Open Source Code: Using XBox Kinect with the LabVIEW Robotics Starter Kit: "

This example features sensor fusion, using the Kinect to gather the 3D image of the world and a scanning sonar to help avoid obstacles that get too close for the Kinect to see.

Check out the full recipe on the NI Robotics Code Exchange, including hardware lists, software and setup requirements, as well as code descriptions and downloads.

Download: Using the XBox Kinect with LabVIEW Robotics Starter Kit