Using physics based models in virtual reality for dynamic emulation of robotic systems

This paper describes the work of an on-going project investigating the incorporation of physics-based modeling for simulating dynamic interactions in robotic aided manipulations. The research aims at achieving better simulation of robot behaviors in real situations, making it a useful tool for off-line programming. By allowing manipulation strategy simulation and performance visualization of a designed operation to be carried out within a virtual environment, the system will be a valuable tool for handling strategy design, testing, modification, and optimization without fear of damaging the physical systems. As an environment for demonstrating tasks to robots, the systems will also be a useful platform for robot teaching and training. The system has particular promise in flexible assembly where it is more economical to perform the reconfiguration of a work cell and to generate or modify handling strategies for new tasks without having to shut down the real system. This paper reports the initial work carried out with the preliminary results given.