Industrial robot simulation with virtual reality.

The paper describes new methods of industrial robot simulation by using Virtual Reality techniques. The objectives of the research work at IPA Stuttgart are to improve the man-machine-interface to robot simulation systems and to robot control systems. Therefore a suitable testbed was developed to evaluate simulation concepts for industrial robots such as off-line programming, off-line teaching and robot work cell planning. Furthermore, new concepts were developed in the area of teleoperation. Different to conventional robot simulation, human factors play an important role in virtual reality applications and have a strong influence on hardware and especially software developments. Experiences and first results are presented.