Accessible Prototyping for KUKA Robotic Arms with Arduino

Robotic arm prototyping is often only feasible for highly technical researchers that have experience programming robots in their native language and developing bespoke hardware for them. This requires an understanding of serial bus communication and advanced knowledge of the KUKA Robot Language (KRL) in order to design new end effectors, field peripherals, and external kinematic axes in a robot cell. There is a pressing need for a solution that allows students and researchers with basic electronics skills to productively prototype using robotic arms. This paper investigates the feasibility of using Arduino, a popular low-cost single-board computer, as a prototyping tool for KUKA robots in architecture and design education. We propose a new method of connecting an Arduino UNO directly to the EtherCAT communications bus on KUKA robots, allowing for rapid prototyping of accessories and end effectors with numerous simultaneous analog and digital inputs and outputs. We introduce several case studies where rapid prototyping can lead to creative solutions in an academic robotics lab. Our results show that Arduino can be used as a teaching tool to help students better understand the potential of robotic arms in digital fabrication.