Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems 32: 219–234, 2001.

219
© 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

Integrated Environment for Modelling, Simulation

and Control Design for Robotic Manipulators

LEON ŽLAJPAH
Institute Jožef Stefan, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia; e-mail: leon.zlajpah@ijs.si

Abstract. In this paper an integrated environment for the design of robotic controllers implemented
on a PC is described. It is based on the Planar Manipulators Toolbox for dynamic simulation of re-
dundant planar manipulators. The tools are fully integrated in the MATLAB/SIMULINK and hence,
a lot of standard tools are available for the analysis and control design. Using the real-time simulation
it is possible to apply the developed controllers to a real robot manipulator, which can be included
in the system via corresponding interfaces, without any additional coding. The main advantage is
the flexibility in fast prototyping of different algorithms in the field of control of robotic systems,
especially for redundant manipulators.

Key words: robot control design, modelling, simulation, redundant manipulators, real-time systems,
haptic interface.

1. Introduction

When designing the complex systems the use of computer is indispensable. Al-
though the power of computational intelligence is increasing rapidly, the creativity
of a human designer can not be left out in the design process. The best solution
seems to be to provide the designer with proper tools which significantly increase
his efficiency. Hence, simulation has been recognized as an important tool in de-
signing the new products, investigating their performances and also in designing
applications of these products. Simulation allows us to study the structure, char-
acteristics and the function of a system at different levels of details each posing
different requirements for the simulation tools. When complexity of the system
under investigation increases the role of the simulation becomes even more impor-
tant. Advanced robotic systems are quite complex systems. Hence, the simulation
tools can certainly enhance the design, development, and even the operation of
robotic systems. Augmenting the simulation with visualization tools and interfaces,
one can simulate the operation of the robotic systems in a very realistic way. De-
pending on the particular application different structural attributes and functional
parameters have to be modelled. Therefore, a variety of simulation tools has been
developed for the robotic systems which are used in mechanical design of robotic
manipulators, design of control systems, off-line programming systems, to design
220 L. ŽLAJPAH

and test of robot cells, etc. The majority of the robot simulation tools focus on the
motion of the robotic manipulator in different environments.
A very important part of the robotic system is the control system. From the
control viewpoint there are different control levels. The lowest level is the close-
loop control and the next higher is the trajectory planning. The path planning and
other more global control tasks are performed at higher levels. In the past, a lot
of work has been done in the simulation of higher levels of control like path
planning. For example, there exist different tools for planning the collision free
paths, for teaching assembly operations (Ogata and Takahashi, 1994), sensor-based
operations (Chen et al., 1992). Furthermore, almost all commercial robot systems
are equipped with off-line programming systems (Schneider and Kazi, 1998). For
these purposes, the simulation of the kinematics and the structure of the robotic
manipulator is important. However, when the lower levels of the control system are
under investigation, also the dynamics of the robot manipulator becomes important
and has to be included in the simulation.
In control systems design, software simulation tools are well developed and
widely used. Among the variety of simulation software packages MATLAB/SIMU-
LINK is one of the most widely used and several MATLAB Toolboxes have been
developed which can be used for control design, e.g. “A Robotic Toolbox”
(Corke, 1996) and “A Toolbox for Simulation of Robotics Systems”
(Surdilovic et al., 1995). In the last years object-oriented modeling has been in-
troduced and simulation packages like Dymola (Otter et al., 1996) and 20-SIM
(Broenink, 1999) are also very suitable for simulation of robotic systems. There
exist also simulation packages for robotic systems based on symbolic computation
like “Robotica” (Nethery and Spong, 1994) which is based on Mathematica. All
these special robotic packages support general manipulator structures and as such
they are rather complex and not appropriate for the real-time simulation. Some of
the packages use a C-code generators as an interface to other environments which
enable real-time implementation of controllers. Furthermore, testing of different
control algorithms on a real robotic systems is in general not very user friendly: the
algorithms have to be rewritten for the real-time execution and the implementation
details have to be considered.
Therefore, we have developed a simulation package based on MATLAB for
analysis, design and testing of control algorithms for robotic manipulators espe-
cially for the redundant manipulators. It enables us to do not only the off-line
analysis of the robotic systems, modelling and synthesis of controller but also the
real-time implementation of the controller and hardware-in-the-loop simulation.

2. Control Design Procedure

In general, in the process of controller design different steps have to be performed.
In Figure 1 we show the typical steps in the process of controller design. First of
all, the system has to be modelled. This can be done by analysing the physical
MODELLING, SIMULATION AND CONTROL DESIGN FOR ROBOTIC MANIPULATORS 221

Figure 1. Typical steps in design of controller.

properties of the system to obtain the model equations and by identification to

obtain the correct model parameters. In the next step, the control algorithm is de-
veloped. The first results are then obtained by the off-line simulation. If the results
are satisfactory, then in the final stage the controller is tested on a real system,
otherwise the synthesis and simulation have to be repeated. The controller can be
implemented on a target system when all results are satisfactory.
The purpose of the off-line simulation is to help the user in the design process
to examine the behaviour of the system performing a particular task before it is
carried out on a real system. In this way, the efficiency of the design is increased
and the safety of the real robot is insured in greater extent. The other advantage of
the simulation is that special situations can be examined which are hardly realized
experimentally. Of course, the simulation has also some drawbacks. One of the
drawbacks are errors due to the inaccurate modelling and the errors in the identifi-
cation of model parameters. Although careful modelling can minimize these errors,
a test on a real system is necessary for the final approval.
Testing on a real system is usually done separately using another control sys-
tem. Hence, rewriting the developed algorithms into another language and/or for
a different platform may be needed. Additionally, for the implementation on the
real system it is also necessary to consider different implementation details like
interfaces, sampling frequencies, etc. As a consequence, the development time can
be significantly prolonged, especially if the design process has to be repeated.
The integration of all these steps, although essential, is very difficult. Namely,
the different steps in the development of the controller require the use of different
methods for which different tools are needed. Hence, the results from one step to
another have to be transferred often by hand. This bottleneck can be overcome
if control design and testing is done in an integrated environment. Therefore, we
have developed a simulation package which integrates all these steps. As we are
interested especially in the redundant robotic manipulators the developed package
is aimed for such manipulators. Actually, the package is based on (but not limited
to) a model of n Degree-Of-Freedom (DOF) planar manipulators with revolute
joints.
222 L. ŽLAJPAH

3. Integrated Environment
A promising concept to integrate the design phase and the testing on a real sys-
tem in one environment is the hardware-in-the-loop simulation. The main idea
is to substitute one part of the simulation model by a real system during testing.
Prerequisites for the “hardware-in-the-loop” simulation is the ability of real-time
simulation and additional hardware components which are needed for linking the
real system and the simulation system together. In our case “hardware-in-the-loop”
means “manipulator-in-the-loop”, i.e. the model of the manipulator and its sensors
are replaced by a real manipulator.
The integrated environment described in this paper consists of two major parts.
The first one is a simulation package Planar Manipulators Toolbox for dynamic
simulation of robotic manipulators and the other is an experimental robot manip-
ulator. Figure 2 shows the block diagram of such system. As it can be seen from
the figure the integrated environment supports two modes of operation: off-line
simulation, where the robot, sensors and the environment are simulated, and the
real-time “manipulator-in-the-loop” simulation, where a real robot with sensors is
included in the simulation loop. The integration of these two modes is the most
important feature of the described environment. Furthermore, to have an efficient
design environment the switching between simulation modes should be fast and
without additional coding. Additionally, we have augmented our environment with
the possibility to include into the simulation different input/output devices like
haptic interfaces, allowing, e.g., human interaction during simulation.

3.1. PLANAR MANIPULATORS TOOLBOX

The Planar Manipulators Toolbox is a toolbox for simulation of n-R planar ma-
nipulators in MATLAB and SIMULINK (Žlajpah, 1997). MATLAB has been se-
lected mainly due to its capabilities of solving problems with matrix formulations,
easy extensibility, and because of the possibility to simulate in real-time, and to
automatically generate real-time code. The toolbox is based on a kinematic and

Figure 2. A functional block diagram of the integrated environment.

MODELLING, SIMULATION AND CONTROL DESIGN FOR ROBOTIC MANIPULATORS 223

Figure 3. Planar manipulator with revolute joints.

dynamic model of a planar manipulator with revolute joints (Figure 3). The de-
tailed derivation of the manipulator models for this type of manipulators is given
in (Žlajpah, 1998b). As the complexity of the model for this particular type of
manipulators increases slower with the number of DOF than in the case of general
manipulators, the derived toolbox permits simulation of manipulators with many
DOF within reasonable simulation times. The toolbox consists of several M-files
for the calculation of the model and other functions for planar manipulators which
can not be created using the standard ones. The M-file functions are written in a
straightforward manner to gain the understanding of the functions.
As an extension to MATLAB, SIMULINK adds many features for easier sim-
ulation of dynamic systems, e.q. graphical model building and selection of the
integration method and parameters. To exploit additional features, we have devel-
oped several blocks and functions needed to create kinematic and dynamic models
and to simulate the motion of n-R planar manipulators in SIMULINK. Combining
these special blocks with other blocks subsystems representing kinematic or dy-
namic models are obtained. In the Toolbox some common manipulator subsystems
are prepared as simulation subsystem blocks. To enable the real-time simulation of
manipulators with real manipulators in the loop using the Real-Time Workshop all
S-functions have been rewritten into CMEX S-functions.
Additionally, MALTLAB can be employed as a powerful pre- or postprocessing
facility for SIMULINK simulation, e.g. for selection of controller parameters, op-
timization, for representation of simulation results in various formats and analysis
of simulation results using different tools.

3.2. EXPERIMENTAL SYSTEM

The main part of our experimental system is a laboratory manipulator (see Figure 4)
developed specially for testing of different control algorithms for robotic manipu-
lators. The manipulator has four revolute DOF acting in a plane. As the task space
is two-dimensional (x–y plane) the manipulator is redundant. Such configuration
of the manipulator enables the testing of algorithms for redundant systems. We
have selected the configuration with two redundant DOF because in our opinion
224 L. ŽLAJPAH

Figure 4. Experimental 4-R planar manipulator and a force sensor.

one redundant DOF is not enough to test all important characteristics of redundant
systems.
The link lengths are approximately 0.25 m each. The manipulator is driven
by AC motors and gears with low gear ratios (12 and 6). The servo drives have
different control modes: the torque mode and the speed mode. Actually, the flex-
ibility of the servo drives determines how the real manipulator can be included
into the simulation system. For example, if a controller includes compensators for
manipulator dynamics, then the control signals should represent joint torques and
servo drives must be able to work in torque control mode. On the other hand, when
control signals correspond to joint velocities servo drives must be in speed control
mode. The motors are equipped with incremental encoders with 2500 pulses/rev.
The interface between the simulation systems and the manipulator consists
of I/O boards with the corresponding software drivers at the control computer
and servo drives at the manipulator side. For the control we use a PC computer
(Pentium II/200 MHz). For linking the manipulator with the computer we have
Lab-PC+ board (National Instruments), CYDDA06 board (CyberResearch) and for
interfacing the incremental encoders our own PC-board based on LM628 (National
Semiconductor). With this equipment sampling frequencies more than 1 kHz can
be achieved depending on the complexity of the in the Planar Manipulators Toolbox
control algorithms.

4. Modelling
In SIMULINK a system is modelled by combining input-output blocks. To gain the
transparency the system should be represented by the block structure with several
hierarchical levels, i.e. by combining different basic blocks subsystems are built
which become a single block at the higher level. Figure 5 shows the typical robot
system at the top level (from the control point of view). The basic top level subsys-
tems are: the trajectory generation, the controller, the model of the manipulator and
the environment and the animation of manipulator motion. As the basic blocks for
MODELLING, SIMULATION AND CONTROL DESIGN FOR ROBOTIC MANIPULATORS 225

Figure 5. A top level block diagram of a robot system.

kinematic and dynamic models are included in the Planar Manipulators Toolbox,
we have only to combine the blocks needed for the particular case study and select
the parameters of the model.
Let the configuration of the manipulator be represented by the vector q of n joint
positions, and the end-effector position (and orientation) by m-dimensional vector
x of task positions. The joint and task coordinates are related by the following
expressions

x = p(q), ẋ = J(q)q̇, ẍ = Jq̈ + J̇q̇, (1)

where J is the Jacobian matrix, and the overall dynamic behaviour of the manipu-
lator is described by the following equation

τ = H(q)q̈ + h(q̇, q) + g(q) + τfric − τF , (2)

where τ is the vector of control torques, H is the symmetric positive-definite inertia

matrix, h is the vector of Coriolis and centrifugal forces, g is the vector of gravity
forces τfric is n-dimensional vector of friction forces, and vector τF represents the
torques due to the external forces acting on the manipulator.
The blocks in the Planar Manipulators Toolbox represent basic terms of the
system as given in the above equations. Hence, the modelling is actually only
transformation of the model equations into block diagrams. So, by combining the
corresponding blocks Equation (2) is transformed to the block diagram as shown
on Figure 6. For that we had to develop additional SIMULINK blocks for matrix
operations (transpose, multiplication, inverse and pseudoinverse).
In the same way, we can build the controller subsystem. Let the desired control
algorithm be given as

τ = H−1 J† (ẍd + Kd (ẋd − ẋ) + Kp (xd − x) − J̇q̇) + φ + h + g. (3)

Then, the corresponding block diagram has the structure as shown in Figure 7.
The aim of the animation block is to show the motion of the manipulator (and
obstacle) during the off-line simulation and to serve as an input (using the mouse
to move maze) for the desired task position or obstacle position (see Figure 8).
226 L. ŽLAJPAH

Figure 6. A block diagram representing the dynamic model of a manipulator and a sensor
detecting the object in the neighbourhood of the manipulator.

Figure 7. A block diagram representing the task space and the null-space controller for a
redundant manipulator.

5. Real-Time Implementation Issues

The real-time simulation is important for different reasons. We want to point out
only two of them. Evidently, it is necessary that the simulation has to be performed
in real time if hardware is used in the loop. Another real-time aspect of simulation
is when human operators interact with the simulation. Namely, as humans cannot
be time-scaled it is important that e.q. force and position feedback are performed
in real time. Next we consider some issues on real-time simulation.
MODELLING, SIMULATION AND CONTROL DESIGN FOR ROBOTIC MANIPULATORS 227

Figure 8. A block diagram representing the task space and the null-space controller for a
redundant manipulator.

5.1. COMPUTATION SPEED

The speed of calculations is the crucial point in real-time simulation. As already

mentioned in previous sections, the particular structure of manipulators under in-
vestigation enables fast calculation of kinematic and dynamic models and there-
fore, real-time simulation of more DOF is possible (depending on the computer
capabilities). Although, the system with manipulator in the loop can be simulated
within the SIMULINK, for real-time simulation the model has to be compiled using
the MATLAB Real Time Workshop. When very fast simulation needed, one can
use one of the products like dSpace to translate the SIMULINK model directly
into code for a digital signal processor.

5.2. MANIPULATOR INTERFACES

For hardware-in-the-loop simulation, it is necessary to use hardware interfaces

with corresponding software drivers to include a real system into the control loop.
Usually, in case of robotic manipulators interfaces for actuators and sensors are
needed. Usually, D/A convertors are used for controlling the actuators. The other
part of the interface is assigned to the measurement of the state of the manipulator.
In most cases the state is obtained by measuring joint positions via incremental
encoders. Note that when using the hardware-in-the-loop additional gains should
be included in the system. Their aim is to obtain correct signal values for/from
the interfaces. Figure 9 shows the block scheme of the manipulator model with
input/output interface models. As a consequence, the manipulator for off-line sim-
ulation has to be changed too; some blocks to compensate interface gains have to be
added (see Figure 6). The Manipulator block in this figure actually represents the
basic manipulator model. Note also that additional nonlinear blocks are included
to simulate discrete nature of interfaces.
228 L. ŽLAJPAH

Figure 9. A block diagram of the manipulator with input/output interface models.

Figure 10. A block diagram of the manipulator with compensation of input/output interface
gains (torque mode).

When manipulator is included in the simulation loop then the Manipulator block
in Figure 9 represents the interfaces as shown in Figure 11. Depending on the
particular servo drivers used by the real manipulator and their control modes the
control signals for the servo drivers can be either torque, speed or position com-
mand inputs. Actually, the flexibility of the servo drivers determines how the real
manipulator can be included into the simulation system. For example, if a controller
includes compensators for manipulator dynamics, then the control signals should
represent joint torques and servo drives must be able to work in torque control mode
(as shown in Figures 9–11). On the other hand, when control signals correspond
to joint velocities servo drives must be in speed control mode. In this case, the
simulation model has to include also the internal speed controller which is in real
system a part of the actuator drivers (see Figure 12).
Using the interface blocks in the off-line simulation gives better transparency
of what is happening in the real system. However, the main advantage of such
approach is that it is very easy to switch between an off-line simulation and testing
on a real system (hardware-in-the-loop simulation).

Figure 11. Blocks representing the manipulator model interface with the real manipulator
(torque mode).
MODELLING, SIMULATION AND CONTROL DESIGN FOR ROBOTIC MANIPULATORS 229

Figure 12. A block diagram of the manipulator with compensation of input/output interface
gains and internal PI velocity controller (speed mode).

Figure 13. A block diagram representing the simulation of a manipulator with haptic
interface.

5.3. HAPTIC INTERFACE

The simulation in virtual environment with human interaction offers new possibili-
ties in control design. For example, one wants to design a controller which assures
compliant motion of a robot manipulator and he wants to “feel” the quality of the
designed controller. The solution would be to use a haptic interface and connect
it to the obstacle. By moving the obstacle with the haptic interface, it is possible
to bump the obstacle against the manipulator at different location and to feel the
collision forces. The animation block enables the visualization of the manipula-
tor motion. Such configuration (shown on Figure 13) enables us to obtain a very
good picture of what is happening with the system and how different parameters
influence the behaviour. It is also possible to simulate situations which are hard to
realize like frictionless gears etc. Although, the simulation has to be performed in
real time to obtain realistic “feeling”, the requirement for real time is not so strong
in this case, but the simulation time should not deviate a lot from real time.

6. Examples
To illustrate the capabilities of our integrated environment we have chosen as an
example the design of obstacle avoidance control algorithm for a redundant ma-
nipulator. The goal is to design such a null space controller that will minimize the
contact forces caused by the collision with an obstacle and move the manipulator
into a contact free configuration after the collision. In the following we will explain
230 L. ŽLAJPAH

Figure 14. Tracking of a circle: manipulator configurations and obstacle positions.

Figure 15. Tracking of a circle: external forces and null-space velocities.

the design steps and structure of the simulation system used in each step. The
theoretical details are given in (Žlajpah, 1998a).
In the first example, we use the planar robot with 4 revolute joint. Hence, the
manipulator has 2 redundant DOF. The desired task has been the tracking the
circular path


0.5 + 0.1 cos(2π/10t)
xd =
0.0 + 0.1 sin(2π/10t)

and the motion of the manipulator has been obstructed by an obstacle. Figure 5
shows the top level block diagram of the system (the manipulator dynamic model
and the controller are presented in Figures 6 and 7). Using off-line simulation we
have tested the behaviour of the system using different controllers and changing
the controllers parameters. Figures 14 and 15 show the simulation results for two
values of damping gain Kn . When the simulation results have been satisfactory,
the designed controller has been verified by using the haptic interface. To be able
to “feel” the contact forces which occur when the obstacle bumps into the manip-
ulator, the obstacle has been “connected” to the haptic interface (Phantom – see
Figure 16). Hence, it has been possible to bump the obstacle against the manip-
ulator at different location and to feel the collision forces. The animation block
enables the visualization of the manipulator motion and additionally, the tip of the
manipulator can be moved using the mouse.
Finally, the controller has been tested on our experimental manipulator under
the real conditions. Figure 17 shows the corresponding block diagram. As we can
MODELLING, SIMULATION AND CONTROL DESIGN FOR ROBOTIC MANIPULATORS 231

Figure 16. Phantom 1.5 haptic device and simulation system.

Figure 17. A block diagram representing the system where the real manipulator and sensors
are included in the simulation loop.

see, the manipulator and sensor models have been replaced with a real robot and
its sensors. However, the controller has been the same as before. Of course, in
this step the manipulator motion animation is no longer needed. The experimental
results (the configuration of the manipulator and the obstacle position) are shown
in Figure 18.
In the second example, we want to present a simulation of a hyper-redundant
manipulator. For that purpose we have selected a case when a moving obstacle
collides with the 10-DOF planar manipulator. The primary task is to move along
a line and the secondary task is to optimize the manipulability of the manipulator.
The desired trajectory has a trapezoidal velocity profile (ẍ = 1 ms−2 and ẋmax =
0.4 ms−1 ); the initial position is x = [0.2, 0]T m and the final position is x =
[6.96, 0]T m. Additionally, a moving a circular obstacle disturbs the motion of the
manipulator. The obstacle is moving along the path


−3 + 11 sin(t/10)
xo = . (4)
0
232 L. ŽLAJPAH

Figure 18. Tracking of a circle: manipulator configurations and obstacle position (experimen-
tal results).

Figure 19. A block diagram of the system used in example.

Figure 19 shows the block diagram at the top level. The manipulator model and the
controller are shown on Figures 6 and 3, respectively. Simulation results are shown
in Figure 20 where the manipulator configurations and the position of the obstacle
are given for some time instants.

7. Conclusion
In the paper an integrated environment for the design and real-time implementation
of controllers for robot manipulators has been presented. The system combines the
simulation package Planar Manipulators Toolbox for dynamic simulation of robot
manipulators and the experimental planar manipulator. The paper gives a short
description of the Planar Manipulators Toolbox and the experimental system. The
emphasis is on the connecting both subsystems into an integrated environment for
the design and the testing.
Using this environment for different purposes confirmed that the “manipulator-
in-the-loop” simulation is a promising concept in the process of controller design
for robotic manipulators as it enables the simulation of different control schemes
and immediate testing on a real system. However, the possibilities offered by the
simulation in the “virtual” world together with appropriate interfaces for interaction
with operators are even more interesting. We believe that in future the simulation
in the “virtual” world will play an important role in the design of the robot control
systems.
MODELLING, SIMULATION AND CONTROL DESIGN FOR ROBOTIC MANIPULATORS 233

Figure 20. Example 1: Tracking of a line and moving obstacle (manipulator configurations
and obstacle positions).

The Planar Manipulators Toolbox has proved to be a very useful and effective
tool for many purposes: kinematic and dynamic simulation, analysis and synthesis
of control systems, trajectory generation, etc. Although the software package is
designed for planar manipulators, it can be very easily extended and adapted to
different requirements and applied to other types of robotic manipulators. Thus, it
should be of interest to the researchers involved in the development of advanced
robot control systems.

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