Get Started with Robotics System Toolbox

Robotics System Toolbox™ provides tools and algorithms for designing, simulating, testing, and deploying manipulator and mobile robot applications. For manipulators, the toolbox includes algorithms for collision checking, path planning, trajectory generation, forward and inverse kinematics, and dynamics using a rigid body tree representation. For mobile robots, it includes algorithms for mapping, localization, path planning, path following, and motion control. The toolbox lets you build test scenarios and use the provided reference examples to validate common industrial robotic applications. It also includes a library of commercially available industrial robot models that you can import, visualize, simulate, and use with the reference applications.

You can develop a functional robot prototype by combining the kinematic and dynamic models provided. The toolbox lets you co-simulate your robot applications by connecting directly to the Gazebo robotics simulator. To verify your design on hardware, you can connect to robotics platforms such as Kinova Gen3 and Universal Robots UR series robots and generate and deploy code (with MATLAB^® Coder™ or Simulink^® Coder).

Tutorials

• Build a Robot Step by Step
  

  This example goes through the process of building a robot step by step, showing you the different robot components and how functions are called to build it.

• 2-D Path Tracing with Inverse Kinematics
  

  Calculate inverse kinematics for a simple 2-D manipulator.

• Track a Car-Like Robot Using Particle Filter
  

  Particle filter is a sampling-based recursive Bayesian estimation algorithm, which is implemented in the stateEstimatorPF object.

• Path Following for a Differential Drive Robot
  

  This example demonstrates how to control a robot to follow a desired path using a Robot Simulator.

• Trajectory Control Modeling with Inverse Kinematics
  

  This Simulink example demonstrates how the Inverse Kinematics block can drive a manipulator along a specified trajectory.

About Robotics Systems

• Standard Units for Robotics System Toolbox
  

  List of standard units used in the Robotics System Toolbox.

• Rigid Body Tree Robot Model
  

  Explore the structure and specific components of a rigid body tree robot model.

• Robot Dynamics
  

  This topic details the different elements, properties, and equations of rigid body robot dynamics.

• Accelerate Robotics Algorithms with Code Generation
  

  You can generate code for select Robotics System Toolbox algorithms to speed up their execution.

• Task-Space Motion Model
  

  The task-space motion model characterizes the motion of a manipulator under closed-loop task-space position control, as used in the taskSpaceMotionModel object and Task Space Motion Model block.

• Joint-Space Motion Model
  

  The joint-space motion model characterizes the motion of a manipulator under closed-loop joint-space position control, as used in the jointSpaceMotionModel object and Joint Space Motion Model block.

Featured Examples

Pick-and-Place Workflow Using RRT Planner and Stateflow for MATLAB

Setup an end-to-end pick-and-place workflow for a robotic manipulator like the KINOVA® Gen3.

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Pick-and-Place Workflow in Gazebo Using Point-Cloud Processing and RRT Path Planning

Set up an end-to-end, pick-and-place workflow for a robotic manipulator like the KINOVA® Gen3.

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Pick-and-Place Workflow in Gazebo Using ROS

Setup an end-to-end pick and place workflow for a robotic manipulator like the KINOVA® Gen3 and simulate the robot in the Gazebo physics simulator.

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Execute Tasks for a Warehouse Robot

Demonstrates how to execute an obstacle-free path for a mobile robot between three locations on a given map. The robot is expected to visit the three locations in a warehouse: a charging station, loading station, and unloading location. The sequence in which these locations are visited is dictated by a scheduler. The scheduler gives each robot a goal pose to navigate to. The robot plans a path and uses a Pure Pursuit controller to follow the waypoints based on the current pose of the robot. The Differential Drive Kinematic Model block models the simplified kinematics, which takes the linear and angular velocities from the Pure Pursuit Controller. This example builds on top of the Plan Path for a Differential Robot in Simulink example.

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Control and Simulate Multiple Warehouse Robots

Control and simulate multiple robots working in a warehouse facility or distribution center.

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A* Path Planning and Obstacle Avoidance in a Warehouse

An extension to the Simulate A Mobile Robot in a Warehouse using Gazebo example. The example shows to change the PRM path planner with an A* planner, and add a vector field histogram (VFH) algorithm to avoid obstacles.

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Design and Simulate Warehouse Pick-and-Place Application Using Mobile Manipulator in Simulink and Gazebo

Set up an end-to-end, pick-and-place workflow for a mobile manipulator using Simulink® and Gazebo®.

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Plan Manipulator Path for Dispensing Task Using Inverse Kinematics Designer

Design a robotic manipulator path for a dispensing task. A successful path consists of a sequence of collision-free waypoints that are designed and verified in the Inverse Kinematics Designer app. Create waypoints for an adhesive dispensing task, in which the robot picks up two adhesive strips, applies glue, and then applies the strips to a box.

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