Implementation of a PC based controller for a PUMA robot

The paper describes the replacement of the controller for a PUMA 512 robot with a newly designed PC based controller employing real-time direct control of the six articulated joints. The original mechanical structure of the PUMA 512 has been retained. The control software has been implemented by user programs written in C and C++ programming languages. The hardware of the new controller includes in-house designed: PWM amplifiers; PC interface cards; and a watchdog timer. The system uses two PC interface cards, each providing: two 24 bit and one 16 bit quadrature counters; a 12 bit analog to digital converter; a timer; and digital input/output. An Intel 486 DX2-66 based computer is used as the central controller. Preliminary results of the system performance are included.