Optimal Control of 6-DOF Robotic Arm using PSO Tested on Hardware Chassis

The effective control of robotic manipulators represents a significant and complex area of research within the robotics industry. This study introduces a six-degree-of-freedom (DOF) robotic manipulator characterized by revolute joints, accompanied by a comprehensive hardware implementation. Initially, a schematic model featuring five revolute joints was developed, and the final position of the end-effector was determined using Denavit–Hartenberg (DH) parameters through forward kinematics. Following the specification of the desired end-effector position in Cartesian coordinates, a feedback control system was designed to accurately position the end-effector at the target coordinates. In this context, a particle swarm optimization algorithm was employed to optimize the joint angles by minimizing the cost function, which is defined as the squared sum of the error between the current and desired end-effector positions. The simulation was conducted using MATLAB, and upon determining the optimal joint angles, these values were implemented in the hardware setup of the manipulator, which utilized five MG996R servo motors for overall control. Additionally, a sixth servo motor was incorporated to manage the end-effector's gripping mechanism, which was operated manually via a joystick. This optimal control strategy for the robotic manipulator, integrated with the hardware setup, enhances the applicability of the proposed research across various sectors within the robotics industry.