Path Planning of Manipulator Arm Based on Digital Twin VR

In the traditional field of robotics, the path planning of the robotic arm is a key issue. Most of the time, these path planning tasks rely on the MoveIt tool in the Robot Operating System (ROS). MoveIt is a very popular software that provides a complete set of methods for calculating the path that allows the robotic arm to reach the target location as intended. However, in the general path planning process, although the target joint of the robotic arm can be moved precisely to the desired position, it often leads to the movement of unnecessary other joints in the entire robotic arm. This phenomenon not only increases the computational burden of the system, but also brings a series of unnecessary energy consumption. This consumption not only affects the robot's operational efficiency, but can also have a negative impact on its service life. New solutions are being explored to address this challenge, one of which is the use of digital twin virtual reality (VR) technology. By using two VR human hands, individuals can intuitively operate the robotic arm in a virtual environment. In this virtual environment, the operator can directly “break” the target joint of the robotic arm to the desired position. This direct control allows for precise manipulation of the target in more intuitive and controllable conditions. In this process, the operator can observe the status of the entire robotic arm in real time, ensuring that the non-target joints remain stationary as much as possible, thereby reducing unnecessary movements, and after the path planning is completed, the robotic arm joint data is transmitted to the real robotic arm through JSON files to complete the digital twin operation. This method significantly reduces the additional energy consumption and thus improves the overall efficiency of the robotic arm operation. This study further implements the PICO VR glasses connected to the Isaac Sim simulation environment to control the real robotic arm for the task of grasping the cube, for which the system is further tuned and optimized to ensure the performance and planning effectiveness. This new path planning method combined with VR technology has opened up new ideas for the optimisation of robotic arms and various robot systems. It not only improves energy efficiency, but also enhances the flexibility and intuitiveness of human operation in complex automation systems, providing an innovative solution for future robot control technology.