Four DoF Robotic ARM using LabVIEW

Pune - 48, Maharashtra, India

Mr. Rahul S. Pol Mr. Sagar Giri

Research Scholar, Dept. ECE, Sathyabama University, Department of Electronics and Telecommunication
Assistant Professor & VIIT-NI LabVIEW Acad. Coordinator Vishwakarma Institute of Information Technology
Department of Electronics and Telecommunication, Pune - 48, Maharashtra, India
Vishwakarma Institute of Information Technology Email: sagargiri2104@gmail.com
Pune - 48, Maharashtra, India
Email: rahul.s.pol@gmail.com

Mr. Aditya Ravishankar Mrs. Varsha Ghode

Department of Electronics and Telecommunication Department of Electronics and Telecommunication
Vishwakarma Institute of Information Technology Vishwakarma Institute of Information Technology
Pune - 48, Maharashtra, India
Abstract -The aim of this research paper is to thoroughly elaborate various tools, or dedicated devices through adaptive planned
designing, development and to implement steps involved to make a motions to execute a diversity of tasks. An non assistive
superior four degrees of freedom (DoF) robot ARM with control industrial robot system incorporate many devices and sensors
that is more organized and low expenditure. A four DoF robotic
incorporated by the robot to execute its overall tasks as well as
ARM is a kind of robot (part) usually programmable, with identical
functions to a human ARM. The said robotic ARM is designed with
chaining or supervising communication interfaces[7,8]. Author
four degrees of freedom to perform various associated tasks, such has done robotic arm programming in LabVIEW, which is a
as material handling, shifting which can serves as an assistant for graphical language.Lab VIEW (Laboratory Virtual Instrument
industry. The robot ARM is built with number of servomotor that Engineering Workbench) is a development environment based
perform ARM movements concurrently. The controlling action of on the graphical programming language G. It has two windows,
robotic ARM are manage through graphical coding interface; front panel and block diagram. Block diagram contains the
labVIEW. LabVIEW communicates the appropriate movement actual code whereas front panel is the area that holds
angles to the robotic ARM that drives the servomotors having control/indicators which enables user interaction
capability of varying position. The robotic ARM runs in three
different modes manual mode, semiautonomous mode and
autonomous mode. The said paper briefly elaborate all steps
involved in design, realization, testing, and validation part of the II. STRUCTURAL DESIGN CONSIDERATION AND
said robot which results in a properly and more organized control REALIZATION.
robot ARM.
The structural design of the four DoF robot ARM is identical to
Keywords- robot ARM, servo motors based robot, labVIEW, Vis, a functional human ARM. The links of such a robot ARM are
express Vis, Degrees of Freedom, arduino, Servo programming, coupled by joints permitting required rotational action also the
labVIEW, LIFA, block diagram, front panel. feasible links is considered to form a kinematic chain. The end
effecter or end of ARM tooling (identical to the human hand) is
I. INTRODUCTION the far end of the kinematic chain of operator.
"Robotics" is the term practically defined as the design and
utilization of robot systems for industry [2, 9]. Robots are
usually preferred to use for performing hazardous, complicated
as well as highly monotonous, and unpleasant jobs [2]. These are
installed in many workstations where ever heavy loads and
hectic operations has to be perform such as material handling,
different part assembly, various types of welding, different
spraying, painting also can be used to placing small parts with
accuracy etc.[3,4,5].
The two major segments of assistive robots were an
assistive service robots and non-assistive industrial robots.
Assistive service robots are normally operates partially or fully
autonomously to execute different services helpful to the
humans and machines. The ISO definition of Assistive industrial
robot are those robot which autonomously performed also
multipurpose programmable in three or more axis [6, 10]. Fig. 1. Structural diagram of four DoF robot ARM.
Assistive industrial robot are designed to shift work objects,
 LAB = 9cm (length of the link AB),
The four DoF robotic ARM structure diagram shown in LBC = 20cm (length of the link BC),
Fig. 1 As this robot ARM uses commercial gripper, author
LCD = 10cm (length of the link CD),
intentionally removed end effectors. The said end effectors are
extremely complex part of robot, author recommend to use easy, WM = WM2 = WM3 = 60gm (weight of motor),
economically, commercially available gripper that improves
WAB = 35gm (weight of link AB),
development time and robot structure.
WBC = 80gm (weight of link BC),
WCD = 30gm (weight of link CD),
L = Object weight + Gripper weight
= 150gm + 100gm = 250gm

Fig. 3shows the force diagram of robot link used for

effective load calculations. The estimation were done only for
the linkage joints that have the greatest loads, since the other
joints have the same motor, i.e. the servo motors can move the
respected links with an ease. The calculations includes the
weight of the motors, about 60 grams.
The general torque calculation for a link is shown
below which helps in calculating torque at different points with
reference to Fig. 4.
Fig. 2. Work volume of the robotic ARM

Fig. 2shows the work volume of the robotic ARM. The

light gray color shows the area that the ARM can follow; while
the lined shaded portion shows the area where ARM cannot
reach. This is the classical workspace of a four degree of
freedom robotic ARM. To make design effective, simple, low Fig. 4. General diagram for torque calculation
cost, author restrict ARM structural design up to four DoF
without sacrificing required servos movement and design Torque is defined as a twisting or turning “force”
freedom. To facilitate robot ARM to reach at all the positions shown in Fig. 4 and is calculated using the following relation:
except explain in Fig. 2 author allows the movement across two
axis in shoulder part, only single axis in elbow and wrist joints.
Author implemented the four DoF robotic ARM with T=F*L
aluminum material so that weight of the structure should not F=m*g (g = gravity = 9.81m/s2)
burden the motor. Electrical motor are incorporated inside the
robot ARM link. The servomotors were preferred because these Above force is also considered as the object’s weight (W).
are very sturdy with inbuilt encoders and having positional
feedback for correcting position [8]. These motor has a major W=m*g
shortcoming of rotational span less than 180˚. The servo motors
were chosen based on the position where they must withstand Therefore, Torque can be given as
with the required torque and effective weight projected by the
structure and possible loads. T=W*L

Calculation of torque at A2 i.e. T1 is as follows;

T1 = L1 * A1 + 1/2 * L1 * W1
i.e. T1 = L1 * A1 + L2 * W1 … (1)

Where, W1 is the weight of the link.

Fig. 3. Force diagram of robot links. Fig. 5. Force diagram for calculation of torque.
 Fig. 5 shows the force diagram and calculation of
torque on motor; with reference to equation (1) the calculations
are carried out as follows.

TD = (LG * L) + ((1/2) * LG * WG)

Where, LG = 10cm (length of the gripper),
L = Object weight + Gripper weight
= 150gm + 100gm = 250gm and
WG = 100gm (weight of gripper)

Therefore;

TD = (200*10) + (100*5) = 2000 + 500 = 2500gmcm

TD = 2.5kgcm … (2)

Similarly;

TC = L*(LCD+LG) +WG*(LCD*(LG/2)) + WM1*(LCD) +

WCD*(LCD/2)
= (200*20) + (100*15) + (60*10) + (40*5)
= 4000 + 1500 + 600 + 200 = 6300gmcm
TC = 6.3kgcm … (3) Fig
. 6. Robotic arm
And
The design and simulation of robot ARM is carried out
TB = L*(LBC+ LCD+LG) + WG*(LBC+LCD+ (LG/2)) + in solid works after finalizing the dimensions. While realizing
design into structure design should carefully considered the
WM1*(LBC+LCD) +WCD*(LBC+ (LCD/2)) + thickness of the aluminum sheet, also the linking of aluminum
WM2*(LBC)+ WBC*(LBC/2) joints to each other. The aluminum sheet thickness is 1mm also
thin size is chosen so that easier for linking and less weight with
= (200*40) + (100*35) + (60*30) + (40*25) + a good resistance.
(60*20) + (60*10) III. VALIDATION OF ROBOT ARM
= 8000 + 3500 + 1800 + 1000 + 1200 There are so many tools available to validate the end
= 16100gmcm = 16.1kgcm … (4) positions of four DoF robot ARM, author preferred inverse
kinematics to find accurate position. Inverse kinematic is used to
obtain the angular movement of each motor from the current
Therefore, from equation (2), (3) and (4) required torque for position with the help of Cartesian coordinate system. The
motors are; motors at each joint have a fixed role : The motor placed at
bottom A positions the end effecter in the y axis, the motors at B
TABLE 1. TORQUE OF EACH SERVO USED and C positions the end effecter in the x and z axis. The
Joints Minimum Necessary Used difficulty was simplified by projecting the x-z plane on the
(Kg-cm) (Kg-cm) (Kg-cm) Cartesian coordinate system shown in Fig. 7.
Base 4.0 4.2 4.2
Shoulder 12 16.1 19 We used Analytic method to solve inverse kinematic
Elbow 3 6.3 6.5 that applied on the values known values, a cosine rule is used for
Wrist 4 2.5 4.2 that purpose.
The motor was chosen based on the calculations, is the Cosine law:
NRS585 (S1), which has a torque of 4.2kgcm, NRS885 (S2) that
has a torque of 6.5kgcm, VS11 (S3) that has a torque of 19kgcm.
As the base contains the ball bearing structure in it, the force
acted on that motor is less, therefore selection of servo motor
NRS885 was preferred. These motors was suggested because it
is much inexpensive compared to other motors having same
specifications [8].
Fig. 7. Diagram to illustrate Cosine law
 … (5)

Therefore, for calculation of angles, following diagram Fig. 9

was considered and the Fig.s will vary accordingly. POWER SUPPLY

LABVIEW INTERFACED WITH ARDUINO

CONTROL MODE

Fig. 8. Diagram to illustrate angle calculation

MANUAL SEMI- AUTONOM-
CONTROL AUTONOMO- OUS
LBC: the length between joints B to C US CONTROL CONTROL
LCD: the length between joints C to D
Z: the position in the Z-axis
X: the position in the X-axis ROBOTIC ARM
Y: the position in the Y-axis
With reference to equation (5) the following calculations are Fig. 9. LabVIEW Control Modes
done,
IV. SOFTWARE DESCRIPTION
Programming of robotic ARM was done on labVIEW and the
command was given through arduino controller by interfacing
the arduino with labVIEW.G-Programming is used to interlink
Therefore; dataacquisition, analysis and logic operations. Programming is
done using 3 panels asfollows front panel, Block diagram and
connector panel,where front panel serve as user interface where
controlsand indicators are placed and monitoring is carried
out,Block diagram consists of functional blocks in whichinputs
are been wired and connector panel is used togenerate sub VI’s.
V. CONTROLLING METHODS
Author have developed this robot ARM to be working in
three different modes. Fig. 9. Shown below describes the
… (7) controlling methods of robotic arm
A. Standalone control mode:
Now; B. Semi-autonomous control mode:
C. Autonomous mode:
The well-experienced operator can drive the structure according
… (8) to job type. LabVIEW provides user friendly, front panel, which
beginners can handle very easily.
… (9) A. Standalone Control Mode:
Fig. 10. Describes the operation of robotic arm in standalone
And mode; the front panel of the labVIEW,which serve as a user
interface provides different graphical control knobs through
… (10) which user can control the movement of robot and can position it
anywhere as illustrated in Fig. 2. Front panel also provides a
switch button to control the gripper action and a stop button to
The motor at position B is uses and the motor at stop the operation of robotic arm at any point of time.The said
position C is use . The motor angles are calculated from mode is manual mode; the user can drives this robot ARM
equation 10. The servomotors uses the above equations to structure smoothly.
control the movement of the joints i.e. robot ARM structure to
reach desired position.
 arm in autonomous mode can only detect co-ordinates of one
object present within the arm’s work volume.

SEMI-AUTONOMOUS MODE

Robotic arm grasping object from l

Fig. 10. FRONT PANEL of labVIEW in manual control mode

B. Semi-Autonomous Control Mode:

Semi-autonomous mode shown in Fig. 12 works by feeding Robotic arm placing object at lo
a set of calculated angles necessary to performing the task. In
this mode author made the robotic arm to perform a particular
such as moving an object from location 1 to location 2. The
function of semiautonomous mode can be understood clearly
from Fig. 11. The task assigned to robotic arm (such as moving
from one location to another) in semi-autonomous mode can be
continuous or can be made to perform its task for a fix number
of times depending upon the data provided by the user
In labVIEW, new task can also be assigned by changing the
angular data (present in block diagram panel) given in the
previous task
C. Autonomous Control Mode:
The arm has an ultrasonic sensor present at the base
motor which provides angle and distance of the location (from
Fig. 11.Representation of robotic arm in semi- autonomous mode
where object need to be moved or; to where object needs to
moved) from the point of origin. This data acts as an input for VI. ELECTRONIC POWERING AND CONTROLLING
the formulae node (a loop in labVIEW) and the output from the SYSTEM.
formulae nodes (that are calculated using forward and inverse Electronics circuit or robotic ARM consist of 2 parts
kinematics) are a series of angles provided as an input for
different motors. Robotic arm executes the task accordingly A. Power supply.
from the calculated data obtained in the autonomous control B. Arduino Uno board.
mode. Thus, after reaching at the object’s location, arm grabs
the object after giving the command by the user. The robotic
 servo motor gears because of overload. Author also face few
SEMI- problems regarding mechanical assembly.
AUTONOMOUS
CONTROL MODE

Pick the Release the

object from object at 2nd
first position position

Fig. 12. Semi- autonomous control mode

A. Power Supply:
Power calculation chart for robotic ARM has been given below

Table 2. Power calculation chart

Parameter Voltage Current Power

2 NRS585 6 volt 1.8 A 10.8 W
2 NRS885 6 Volt 2.4 A 14.4 W
VS-11 6 Volt 3.5 A 21 W
Total 46.2 W
Fig. 13. Complete Power Supply with electronic circuit
From the above power calculation author built power supply of
48 watt (6 volt 8 amp) which is shown in fig. 13. VIII. LABVIEW PROGRAMMING
LabVIEW has been widely used to interlink data
B. Arduino Uno Board: acquisition, analysis and logic operations. LabVIEW is a highly
Author used famous Arduino UNO interface with productive, development environment for creating custom
labVIEW to operate robotic arm. The LIFA base program needs application that interact with the real world signals in fields such
to be uploaded through arduino IDE, which makes Arduino as science and engineering. Author interfaces LabVIEW with
follows all commands of labVIEW. Arduino through LIFA file and thus, arduino accepts all
commands given in labVIEW. Author uses Case structures for
VII. TESTING AND VALIDATION classifying different control modes. LabVIEW uses abstract Vis
Author did number of tests to validate the robot ARM for initializing, configuring, terminating and also to read and
operation. While during system design time, author put so many write data in Arduino. Fig. 14. Shows block diagram of
test points and indication to validate, the steps to check robotic labVIEW in semi-autonomous mode. Front panel is the user
ARM. The test routines are written to check the working of each interaction part of labVIEW. It provides control knobs in manual
stage such as proving angle to motor to move with the load, mode to operate arm movements and switch key for grabbing
simultaneous movement of multiple motor, gripper speed, and release. In semi-autonomous mode, Front panel of labVIEW
holding the object in jaw, navigating object through different provides four angular inputs that remains constant while running
angle and position, indicators, error display box and lot more. the program. While autonomous mode consist of only gripper
switch, programming of autonomous mode is done in block
The author at first tested single motor labVIEW code diagram in such a way that arm itself detects the object co-
for each motor and then created subvis’ and after verifying the ordinates and grabs the object through gripping command. It
response of movement towards the right position; thus final code even releases the object at the place required by the user by
was designed by testing part by part. Testing and validation is detecting the next co-ordinates where object needs to be placed.
very crucial and require more time because of number of This can be done either by giving the input co-ordinates or by
iterations. While testing author faces so many problem like the placing an obstacle at required co-ordinates. Robotic arm will
theoretical and practical robot position and angle difference detect the obstacle stand and release the object at specified
generated because of wrong calibration of the motor, damaging location.
 Fig. 14. BLOCK Diagram Panel of labVIEW in semi-autonomous mode

IX. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 150 grams Maximum Current Consumption

180 grams Over Current Consumption
In this following section author discussed result of robotic
condition at different working condition:
8.3. Highest Load Condition
8.1. Limitation ofServo Motor Movement.
Author recorded many results by doing so may
As discussed previously servomotors were placed in experimentation on the four DoF robotic ARM by moving it in
this system as these motor had 180-degree rotation span. At different direction with different position, with different speed
actual the span is different the practical movement span for all and for various load (size and weight) .The designed ARM
motors was found to be equal in rotational range of 120 degree respond very well for all types of load whose size weight is less
to 145 degrees. These limitations must be consider while than 10cm and 100 grams respectively. Above 100 grams up to
designing servo-based system. In our study author considered
and accommodate above limitation.
8.2. Current Consumption
The current consumption of complete system were
varies according to different ARM position and movement with
and without load. Fig. 12 shows actual current supply build for
the said robot ARM. There are different level of current
consumption according to various situation presented in Table 2.
Fig. 15 describes the position of ARM in minimum current
consumption mode. Fig. 15 robot position draws very less
current.

150 grams, it can sustain the load but get deteriorate in

Table 2. Load vs. robot ARM Current consumption
movement and speed response. If author further increase the
load condition then it might be permanently, damage the motor
Load Current Consumption Mode and system.
30 grams Minimum Current Consumption
60 grams Average Current Consumption Fig. 15. ARM in minimum current consumption mode
120 grams Maximum Current Consumption
8.4. End Position is equipped with RF remote and inexpensive than the available
The goal position was achieved with high precision and robot. Author found expected results by doing so may
accuracy for the small load size and weight, but as the load experimentation on the four DoF robotic ARM by moving it in
properties increases system final position accuracy deteriorate. different direction with different position, with different speed
The design of robot ARM especially link weight plays a vital and for various load (size and weight).
role. It is observe that
Motors could not generate enough torque for heavy loads. As
author moves few motors synchronously with each other, the
vibration generate distortion in movement, to reach at the final
position accurately.
X. APPLICATION OF ROBOTIC ARM XII. REFERENCES
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While designing, realizing and experimenting the four DoF
robot ARM, author found so many difficulties such. The
designed robotic ARM can be operated through remotely, or
manually to execute given task with great accuracy. The system