Project Name: Robotic Arm Control System

About

The Robotic Arm Control System project focuses on creating a Python-based control interface for a robotic arm using a Raspberry Pi. The software, arm.py, provides a class Joint to represent each moveable segment of the robot arm and a class Arm to control multiple Joint instances simultaneously.

Key features include:

• Individual joint control with positional feedback.
• Limit setting for preventing mechanical overextension.
• Emergency stop functionality to halt all movements instantly.
• Concurrent joint manipulation allowing for complex, coordinated movements.

The control system is intended to be integrated into applications requiring precise and multi-joint robotic arm control. It can be adapted to various robotic arm models with varying degrees of complexity.

This document serves as a detailed guide for developers working with arm.py and outlines the encountered difficulties, bugs, and the measures taken to resolve them during the development process. Our aim is to provide transparency and aid future development and debugging efforts.

Development Procedure

Errors Encountered and Solutions Applied

Issue 1: GPIO.cleanup() not called after controlling the robotic arm

Cause: Failure to clean up GPIO resources can lead to potential issues with pin management and usage.

Solution: Added GPIO.cleanup() in the main function to ensure proper release of GPIO resources.

Issue 2: KeyboardInterrupt exception not properly handled during joint movement.

Cause: Failure to catch and handle the KeyboardInterrupt exception can result in unexpected termination of the program.

Solution: Implemented try-except block to catch KeyboardInterrupt exception and handle the motor movement interruption.

Issue 3: Lack of clear direction on how to set up the remote control system.

Cause: Remote control system setup was not clearly documented, leading to confusion in the development process.

Solution: Updated README with clear instructions on setting up the remote control system using Flask-SocketIO.

Functions Related Errors

1. Joint Movement:

   • Issue: Inconsistent movement of joints during concurrent operations.
   • Cause: Synchronization issues in the concurrent_movement() function.
   • Solution: Implemented ThreadPoolExecutor for better synchronization of joint movements.

2. Motor Limit Handling:

   • Issue: Unreliable handling of motor limits during joint movement.
   • Cause: Improper validation of motor limits in the go() function.
   • Solution: Added conditional checks to ensure accurate motor limit handling.

3. E-STOP Functionality:

   • Issue: E-STOP functionality not fully implemented.
   • Cause: Incomplete integration of E-STOP handling in the Arm class.
   • Solution: Enhanced Arm class to include explicit E-STOP functionality for joint movements.