RobotSensorInterface

[bsuroboticslab]

Hi Johannes,

Do you have any experience with the RobotSensorInterface software from KUKA?  Can it be used for real-time control of the robot / what is it best used for?

I got a quote for it and was shocked at the price.  Is it worth it, especially when there is a new streaming control solution on the horizon?  Should we expect any kind of announcement in a week or two? ;)

Hope everything is coming together for the conference!  Wish I could be there!
Dan

[Johannes @ Robots in Architecture]

Hello Dan,

The RSI is great when you need actual real-time response, i.e. within a few milliseconds. The issue with RSI is that you have to take care of the entire pathplanning and do that on a real-time capable PC. So I definitely wouldn't recommend streaming data from Grasshopper (and Windows in general) to the robot via RSI, but create a custom RSI server running on a real-time capable system that postprocesses data. Because of this we never implemented RSI into KUKA|prc - also, it's quite easy to really damage the robot with it, either by streaming a wrong coordinate, but also by excessive torque at the axes.
One more thing that RSI is very useful is for offsetting toolpaths in real-time, e.g. using the data from a force-torque sensor.
At Rob|Arch we'll be presenting an implementation of mxAutomation, which is not real-time capable, but uses a command buffer. On the other hand that means that it can work similar to a KRL file (i.e. LIN, PTP... commands, regular speed values, motion blending...), except being "dynamic". So if you want the robot to catch a ball, it won't be a good solution, but if you want to circumvent the file transfer via USB stick and/or have parametric toolpaths that (with a certain lag) react to external input, mxA is awesome.

Also, mxA on the KUKA controller should cost quite a bit less than 1000EUR for universities and does not require any additional hardware. Our mxA implementation will be a free feature for the member version of KUKA|prc.

All the best,
Johannes