Hi! I'm a software guy and would like to start out doing some robotics. Before I go out and get a bunch of hardware. I'd like to practice the fundamentals.

I'm most comfortable with C++ and C# and dotnet and am pretty comfortable with game engines like Unity Unreal and Godot.

I've started out modeling a three-joint articulated robot arm that i can control through signals to the individual joints, like controlling a stepper motor.

My goal is to figure out a system where I can declare the shape of a robot like this (armature size, number of joints, offsets etc) to create a virtual model of the robot. I want to be able to send target coordinates and a basis rotation to that model and receive a series of signals back that will move the head of the robot to that 3d coordinate and rotation.

Now, I'm sure there are systems and packages that do all the math for this already, so what tools/libraries do you guys use to do modeling like this?

I want to see if I can simulate it in a game engine, and if that works out maybe ill try it on a toy :D

Thanks!

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[–] mjpc13 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

My goal is to figure out a system where I can declare the shape of a robot like this (armature size, number of joints, offsets etc) to create a virtual model of the robot.

This sounds like URDF.

Now, I’m sure there are systems and packages that do all the math for this already, so what tools/libraries do you guys use to do modeling like this?

It is normal to use ROS to send instructions and receive feedback from robots, you can also setup a simulated environment with ROS and Gazebo.

ROS can be a bit rough to get into, if you need any help, you can post on the ROS community.

[–] nibblebit 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes! I think this is what I'm looking for 😄 thanks for saving me a bunch of time I'll check this out :)

[–] mjpc13 2 points 1 year ago

If you are using Unity you can check this online session to get started integrating ROS in Unity.