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Robotic Arm Control using Internet of Things (IoT)

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 VOL. 18, NO. 3-2, 2019, 51-55
www.elektrika.utm.my
ISSN 0128-4428

Robotic Arm Control using Internet of Things (IoT)

Amirah ‘Aisha Badrul Hisham1,3, Low Zi Han1, Mohamad Hafis Izran Ishak2* and Nurul Hawani Idris2
1
School of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor, Malaysia.
2
School of Geoinformation and Real Estate, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 Skudai, Johor,
Malaysia.
3
Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Jalan Broga, 43500 Semenyih, Selangor,
Malaysia.
*
Corresponding author: hafis@fke.utm.my, Tel: 607-5557162, Fax: 607-5566262

Abstract: Robotic arm is a reprogrammable and multifunctional manipulator design to assist human in various surroundings.
It is able to overcome human inefficiency in performing repetitive task such as pick and place operation. Thus, industrial in
assembly and manufacturing have widely integrated robotic arm into their assembling line to overcome the problem of human
inefficiency. Internet of things (IoT) allow data to be exchange between devices through the connection of many devices. The
integration of internet of things with robotic arm allows smart industry to be realized. The purpose of this research is to design
and build a three degree of freedom robotic arm with a mechanical gripper. The robotic arm can be controlled remotely through
android mobile device to perform pick and place operation while Matlab provides the graphical movement of the robotic arm
as a feedback.

Keywords: Android mobile device, Arduino Yun, Internet of Things (IoT), robotic arm.
© 2019 Penerbit UTM Press. All rights reserved
Article History: received 4 September 2019; accepted 1 December 2019; published 24 December 2019.

task. The used of robotic arm in industry promotes better

1. INTRODUCTION product quality, productivity and increase efficiency [12,
Robot are used in various environment ranging from 13].
homes to industries to provide assistant to human for a Most of the time, robotic arm is required to be train or
range of purpose such as operation in hazardous situations teach before it can spring into action. The training or
or operation in manufacturing sector [1]. The design of a teaching process are normally carried out through teach
robot can be varied depending on its function, application pendant in a certain distance within the factory. The
and the environment. Robotic arm is most commonly used training or teaching process on the robotic arm will pose a
in industry such as manufacturing and assembling. The use great challenge in the absence of the relevant person in
of robotic arm is to overcome human inefficiency in
charge or engineer [14-17]. This is due to the fact that the
performing repetitive task such as pick and place
operation. Robotic arm is a reprogrammable and training process on a robotic arm requires an in-depth
multifunctional manipulator design to assist human in knowledge not only on the robotic arm but also on the
various surroundings. Robotic arm is able to overcome surrounding environment and material that the robotic arm
human inefficiency in performing repetitive task such as will be handling. The integration of IOT with robotic arm
pick and place. Thus, industry such as assembly and allows smart industry to be realized. The purpose of this
manufacturing have widely integrated robotic arm into research is to design and build a three degree of freedom
their assembling line to overcome the problem of human (DOF) robotic arm with a two-finger mechanical gripper.
inefficiency [2-4]. The robotic arm can be controlled remotely through
Internet of things (IoT) allow data to be exchange android mobile device (AMD) to perform pick and place
between devices through the connection of many devices operation [18].
[5, 6]. Internet connection has fundamentally changed the
arrangements for monitoring and control and the use of
open or public standards and personal computer systems 2. LITERATURE REVIEW
(PCs, tablets, smart phones) bring significant benefits to 2.1 Robotic Arm
their users and producers [7]. This concept can be further
Robotic is a fusion of not only electronic, mechanical and
extended to be integrated into various wearable energy
harvesting devices [8] and implantable wireless electrical engineering but it also includes other engineering
biomedical applications, such as wireless micropumps, fields such as computer science, mathematics, technology
micromixers, and microvalves [9-11]. and science [4, 19]. In general, robotic arm is a
The capabilities and the functionality of a robot reprogrammable and multifunctional manipulator that
depends largely on the needs and its environment. Robot resemble a human arm. The movement of robotic arm is
will then be varied accordingly to suit the needs. For driven by actuator which is located at the joint of the
example, robotic arm has been widely integrated into robotic arm. Motion of human arm differs from the motion
industry or factory to assist human in performing repetitive of articulated robot arms.

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Although the robot joints have fewer degrees of and software programming. Each part plays an essential
freedom, they are able to move in larger angles. For role as the integration of each part determines the
example, the elbow of an articulated robot can bend up or completion of the research, while the succession of the
down whereas a person can only bend their elbow in one research is determined when all parts works well when it’s
direction with respect to the straight arm position [12]. been integrated Figure 1 shows the research elements or
Actuator is a device or component that converts energy the research overview.
into motion. Example of actuator are AC motor, DC motor,
stepper motor, hydraulic piston and pneumatic piston. End
effector is the tool that perform work or operation and is
usually located at the end of the kinematic chain [20, 21].
2.2 Internet of Things (IoT)
In general, IoT is the connection of devices to the Internet.
It allows data to be exchange between devices, and it is
able to overcome the limitations of bus topology
connection. The “things” can be referred to any sort of
devices such as alarm clock, watch, car, kitchen, and even
including robotic arm. The booming of IoT allows the
realization of managing, monitoring or even controlling of
electrical and electronic devices through a 3G mobile
phone [21, 22]. IoT can be applied into a variety of fields
such as industrial, health-care, military, business and
management to form different kinds of applications. This
is possible as internet bridge the gap between the physical
world and the virtual world by allowing physical raw data
to be exchange between devices [5].
This kind of structure has many shortcomings, such as
complex wiring, the line is very easy to destroy, difficult Figure 1. Research overview
of maintenance, and etc. [5]. This reinforce the idea of
connecting devices to the internet as it is able to overcome
the limitations of bus topology connection. On top of that, 3.2 Research Operation Flow
it is speculated that the booming of IoT will greatly reduce Research operation flow presents on the sequence for
the interaction of humans with computer and other controlling the robotic arm remotely through android
electrical and electronic devices, which results in the mobile device using IoT. Figure 2 shows research
increasing of number of “things” and number of active operation flow presents on the sequence for controlling the
internet user [19]. Finally, the current industry can be robotic arm remotely through AMD using IoT. The
transformed to become “smarter” though the integration of research consisted of three main parts, which are hardware
IoT with the industry. construction, circuits development and software-
programming.
3. METHODOLOGY
3.3 Mechanical Part
3.1 Research Overview The structure or mechanism of robotic arm can be break
The research consisted of three main parts, namely down into three main parts, the base, the links and the end-
mechanical or hardware construction, circuit development

Figure 2. Research operation flow

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 Amirah ‘Aisha Badrul Hisham et al. / ELEKTRIKA, 18(3-2), 2019, 51-55

effector which is a two-finger mechanical gripper. Servo 3.5 Software Design

motor bracket will be used to construct the base and the Software programming involves the use of computer
links of robotic arm. RC servo motor such as TowerPro language to develop a sequence or a set of instructions that
MG995 will be used as the actuators to drive the movement will carry out a specific task. It plays a significant role by
of robotic arm. RC servo motor is chosen due to its providing the necessary platform in controlling the action
simplicity in controlling. The choice of these materials is and the movement of the robotic arm.
considered base on the availability, cost and weight.
3.5.1 Flow Chart for Programming
3.4 Circuit Design
Figure 6 shows the flow chart for robotic arm control using
The electronic circuit used in this study is Arduino Yun.
IoT. During automatic mode, the robotic arm picks an item
Arduino Yun is chosen as it has embedded ATmega32U4
from the first position and release the item in the second
microcontroller. This microcontroller is suitable for the
controlling of servo motor. Moreover, Arduino Yun has

Figure 5. Breadboard circuit design.

Figure 3. Complete electronic circuit. Start

Yes Press No
auto
button

Robotic arm
perform pick and Check
place operations Bylnk for
command

Yes
Graphical output
to Matlab Robotic arm move to the
first position

Yes Gripper grip item

Press
reset
button
Robotic arm move to the
second position
No

End
Gripper release

Figure 4. Schematic diagram. Figure 6. Flow chart.

embedded Wi-Fi module which providing it the position. The process of pick and place operation is then
capabilities to access over the internet. This allows the repeated. During manual mode, the robotic arm is train
implementation of IoT application. through android mobile device.
On the other hand, Arduino Yun is unable to supply
enough current to the RC servo motor. Thus, power circuit 3.5.2 Graphical Display
is needed to ensure that RC servo motor is able to draw MATLAB R2013a is used in this study to show the
sufficient current from a 5V 2A adapter. Figure 3 shows graphical movement of robotic arm. The graphical
the power circuit. Figure 4 shows the schematic diagram movement of robotic arm is projected in a three-
of RC servo motor with Arduino Yun while Figure 5 shows dimensional space. Moreover, MATLAB R2013a also
the breadboard circuit design. Arduino Yun act as the brain displayed the number of positions received during the
in controlling the movement of RC servo motor by operation of robotic arm. Additional toolbox such as
receiving commands from android mobile device. Robotics Toolbox is required to be added into MATLAB

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 Amirah ‘Aisha Badrul Hisham et al. / ELEKTRIKA, 18(3-2), 2019, 51-55

R2013a before it is able to present the graphical movement

of the robotic arm. Figure 7 shows the graphical display of
robotic arm.

Figure 8. Actual structure of IoT robotic arm.

Figure 7. Graphical display of robotic arm.

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The complete hardware mechanism is integrated with the
software programming to form a complete system. With
the complete system, pick and place routine process is able
to be carried out. A three DOF robotic arm with two finger
mechanical gripper is successfully developed, and it is able
to be controlled remotely though AMD as shown in Fig. 8.
Figure 9 shows the completed pick and place operation.
Upon start up, the robotic arm will move to the initial
position or pre-defined position. Once the robotic arm is
ready, it will then move to the desired position or the first
position. Next, the robotic arm will grasp the desired object
at the first location by closing its mechanical gripper. The
robotic arm will then lift the object and move to the second
position. The base has the ability to rotate up to 180°, thus Figure 9. Complete pick and place operation.
allowing the position of the object to be changed during
the process. connection of Wi-Fi or cellular data. The speed of
Next, the robotic arm pick and place the object to the graphical display of the robotic arm is limited by the
second location. Upon placing the object, the robotic arm processing speed of MATLAB R2013a.
will release the object by opening its mechanical gripper.
Finally, the robotic arm return to its initial position and the 5. CONCLUSION
pick and place routine will then be repeated. Although research on robotic arm has been conducted in
The pick and place process will only be interrupted or the past, the lack of technology applied has given the
stopped if the robotic arm operation mode is switch from chance to conduct this research by implementing IoT for
automatic mode to manual mode. The reset command the robotic arm. Android mobile device is utilized as the
allows the pick and place memory of the robotic arm to be platform to remotely controlled this robotic arm to perform
cleared, at the same time moving the robotic arm back to the pick and place operations. Arduino Yun is used as the
the pre-defined position. brain of the system, which will process the control signal
4.1 Limitation and output modulation signal to the servo motor.
The robotic arm has a limitation of 180° angle of rotation. Future research needs to examine the effects of other
This is mainly due to the limitation of angle of rotation of types of sensor and actuator. Radio control servo motor
RC servo motor. The obstacle sensing ability of the robotic with greater angle of rotation can be used to improve the
arm is greatly limited as obstacle sensor avoidance is also reachability of the robotic arm. Moreover, more advance
not being implemented. The transmission speed of motor such as stepper motor can be used to offer more
command from Blynk app to Blynk server and the accurate and precise movement. This future research could
retrieving speed of command for microcontroller from help in the review of available robotic arm in the industries
Blynk server depends on the reaction time of the and make recommendations for future editions. Finally,
future research and development in this research is greatly

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41, pp. 1072-1078, 2012.
We are grateful for the UTM scholarship to Author 1. The
[13] M. K. Ishak, M. I. Roslan, and K. A. Ishak, "Design
authors would like to acknowledge Universiti Teknologi
of Robotic Arm Controller based on Internet of
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