Summary

This entirely remote workshop introduces students to control of robot arms. Students will work on a UR5, a widely used industrial "cobot" ("collaborative robot", intended for workspaces shared with humans). Students will learn about various robot arms currently on the market and will be introduced to general principles for representing and controlling arms. These principles will motivate several software architectures for robots. The theory will be translated into practice with exercises where the students write Python programs to move the UR5 arm and pick up objects. Programming exercises will progress from simple waypoint following to a basic ROS project. Concepts about ROS will be quickly visited, preparing students for advanced study after the workshop.

We assume no prior knowledge of robotics, but you need to know the basics of computer programming in any language.

Time Requirements

This workshop will require total time of 5 hours, to be completed in 2 2-hour windows in 1 day as a group, and then 1 hour individually. The 2-hour blocks will be done in a single day, including a "food and bathroom break." Students will also be allocated individual time with the UR5 to be scheduled 1-on-1 with the instructors on some later date.

Depending on feedback, we may adjust the schedule to better support attendance in different timezones.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this workshop, students will

understand the basic concepts for specifying robot arm positions and motion,
know how to get a UR5 up and running safely,
understand how to create a direct arm controller in Python code using the low-level UR5 interface,
develop a small ROS package that illustrates how to start a larger robot software project.

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Getting Started with Robot Arms: From 0 to ROS/MoveIt!