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INNOBOT Introduction

INNOBOT Hardware:​

  • INNOBOT is a 6-degree of freedom fully 3D printed robotic arm, inspired by the BCN3D Moveo and Roboteurs RBX1. The new INNOBOT benefits from improved mechanical design of all the robot links where were tried to eliminate any overhangs that may cause troubles during 3D printing and overall the shape is improved to be easily 3D printed even on a low-cost Ender-like 3D printer over a couple of days. The new design also benefits from improved mechanical rigidity and is genuinly easier to assemble.

INNOBOT Software:​

  • the entire INNOBOT software stack is based on ROS 2 Foxy, the latest LTS release at the time of the start of the project and the system therefore benefits from all that ROS 2 has to offer on top of ROS 1
  • connection to the Arduino is made using serial communication directly from the hardware_interface of ros2_control eliminating the need for ros1bridge and rosserial integration
  • the MoveItCpp interface enables easy planning and manipulation without having to solve the inverse kinematics and trajectory planning manually

INNOBOT Firmware:​

  • unlike in ROS1 the support for Arduino running ROS 2 application is limited and so the firware running on the Arduino is implemented without any third party rosifying library
  • trajectory is sent via serial commmunication from ros2_control and parsed to float on the Arduino side
  • this setup provides deeper learning experience into how you can use serial to communicate, write and read, between your PC and an Arduino

Learning:​

  • INNOBOT is first and foremost meant to be an educational robotics platform that will enable curious minds of young engineers and experienced professionals to enrich their skills portfolio and prepare themselves for future engineering, design and manufacturing challenges
  • there are many ways to get started with INNOBOT, some of those are more involved than others: 1) least effort: purchase the entire robot already assembled and download the software stack to get started with the least amount of effort required 2) medium effort: purchase the kit and assbemle it yourself to gain experience of building a real robot whilst learning about basic mechanical principles such as gear ratios, torque transmission and electric motors then bring it all alive with prebuild software 3) most effort: go completely from scratch, download the Bill of Materials and design files, source and 3D print all of the components yourself and implement all of the software from scratch

Expanding the base:​

  • since the entire stack is open-source, you can expand on the existing base in whatever way you like
  • change the current hardware
  • install different packages
  • write more sophisticated algorithms
  • come up with new ways of planning trajectories and grasps
  • add a camera and work on computer vision
  • design and build new props
  • sky is the limit but whathever you do, we are curious, let us know!

Remarks:​

  • whilst we aim to provide as detailed description of the individual parts of the stack as possible some amazing people from the Open Robotics and around the world have done a great job explaining some of the concepts much better that we could ever aspire to and so where possible and relevant we will provide link to those resources for more in-depth explanation that the reader can go and explore