Robotic cell simulation Project

This project simulates a robotic cell with 3-DOF robotic arm control, stack light monitoring, door/emergency controls, and WMS communication. Check overall software architecture of this project below:

Project Overview

The system consists of three main components:

• ROS2 Robot Cell Simulation: Simulates robotic cell hardware including arm, door, emergency button, barcode scanner, and stack light.
• WMS robotic cell HMI: PyQt5-based graphical interface showing real-time arm movement and system status. In this panel robot moves each time after recieving pick request to random target pose and then returns back to home position.
• Control Panel: Separate GUI panel for controlling cell door and emergency button. By default on startup the cell door is open and user needs to close it via this panel.

Project Structure

robotic_cell_simulation/
│       
├── robot_cell_ros2_pkg/
│   └── robotic_cell_area_simulation/
│       ├── scripts/
│       │   ├── robotic_cell_simulator.py      # Main robot cell simulator
│       │   ├── barcode_scanner.py             # Barcode scanner simulation
│       │   ├── door_handler.py                # Door control handler
│       │   ├── emergency_button_handler.py    # Emergency button handler
│       │   └── stack_light_handler.py         # Stack light controller
│       ├── launch/
│       │   └── cell_simulation.launch.py      # Launch all components
│       │
│       ├── package.xml
│       └── CMakeLists.txt
│       
├── run_all.sh
├── test_system.sh
│       
└── wms_gui_pkg/
    ├── robot_cell_monitor.py                  # Main WMS GUI with arm visualization
    └── robot_cell_control.py                  # Control panel for door and emergency button

Installation Requirements

1. ROS2 Humble Installation

Check the ros2 humble installation Guide

• After installation, create your own ros2 workspace

2. Build ROS2 Package

Make sure 'robotic_cell_area_simulation' pkg is in the 'src' directory of your ros2 workspace. Then run below commands:

source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash
colcon build

3. Install Python Dependencies

# Create a virtual enviroment
python3 -m venv robotic_cell_venv

# Activate the virtual enviroment
source ~/robotic_cell_venv/bin/activate

# Install Python packages
pip install -r requirements.txt 

Running the System

# Activate the virtual enviroment that created in previous step
source ~/robotic_cell_venv/bin/activate

source install/setup.bash

# Run all required scripts and nodes
./run_all.sh

Test the system

# Run test bash script
./test_system.sh

System Ports and Communication

• Robot Cell Simulator: HTTP server on port 8080
• WMS GUI: HTTP server on port 8081 (receives pick requests)
• WMS Monitoring: HTTP server on port 8082 (communication logging)
• WMS Server: Expected on port 5000 (for pick confirmations)

Features

Robot Cell Simulation (ROS2)

• 3-DOF robotic arm simulation with forward/inverse kinematics
• Door control (open/close) with safety interlocks
• Emergency button activation/deactivation
• Barcode scanner with random 5-digit codes
• Stack light status (Red/Yellow/Green + Buzzer)
• HTTP API for external control

WMS GUI

• Real-time 3D arm visualization with smooth animations
• Stack light status display
• WMS communication monitoring
• Activity logging
• Pick request processing

Control Panel

• Door control interface (open/close)
• Emergency button control (activate/deactivate)
• Status logging

API Endpoints

Robot Cell Simulator (port 8080)

• GET /health - Health check
• GET /status - Robot status
• GET /stack_light/status - Stack light status
• POST /pick - Process pick request
• POST /door - Control door
• POST /emergency - Control emergency button

WMS GUI (port 8081)

• GET /health - Health check
• GET /status - GUI status
• POST /pick - Receive pick requests

Safety Features

• Door must be closed for robot operations
• Emergency button prevents robot movement for pick operation
• Stack light indicates system status:
  • 🟢 Green: Normal operation
  • 🟡 Yellow: Door open or robot working
  • 🔴 Red: Emergency activated
  • 🔊 Buzzer: Emergency state

Troubleshooting

1. ROS2 components not starting: Ensure ROS2 is sourced and package is built
2. GUI not connecting: Check if robot simulator is running on port 8080
3. Pick requests failing: Verify door is closed and emergency is deactivated
4. Stack light not updating: Check ROS2 communication between components