This toolbox brings robotics-specific functionality to MATLAB, exploiting the native capabilities of MATLAB (linear algebra, portability, graphics). The Toolbox uses a very general method of representing the kinematics and dynamics of serial-link manipulators as MATLAB® objects – robot objects can be created by the user for any serial-link manipulator and a number of examples are provided for well-known robots from Kinova, Universal Robotics, Rethink as well as classical robots such as the Puma 560 and the Stanford arm. The toolbox also supports mobile robots with functions for robot motion models (unicycle, bicycle), path planning algorithms (bug, distance transform, D*, PRM), kinodynamic planning (lattice, RRT), localization (EKF, particle filter), map building (EKF) and simultaneous localization and mapping (EKF), and a Simulink model a of non-holonomic vehicle. The Toolbox also includes a detailed Simulink model for a quadrotor flying robot.
Features
- Documentation available
- Examples available
- The code is mature and provides a point of comparison for other implementations of the same algorithms
- The routines are generally written in a straightforward manner which allows for easy understanding, perhaps at the expense of computational efficiency
- Since source code is available there is a benefit for understanding and teaching.