API BASED GRAPHICAL SIMULATION OF ROBOTIZED SITES Amel Meddahi 1 , Khelifa Baizid 2,3 , Ali Yousnadj 4 , Jamshed Iqbal 2,3 1 Université de Boumerdes, Algérie 2 University of Genova, Italy 3 Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), Genova, Italy 4 Ecole Militaire Polytechnique, Alger, Algérie Corresponding author: baizid.khelifa@iit.it ABSTRACT The implementation of robots in workshops has raised requirements related with the use and management of robotized sites. These requirements take place throughout the definition phases of the robotized site. The need to simulate and control the industrial tasks has lead to develop tools that aim to provide aid to the user, e.g. the optimum robot trajectory to accomplish a specific task, the placement of the robot in its working environment etc. Additionally, the simulation of robotized sites carries potential benefits in terms of cost as well as time management in industrial and automation projects. In this work, we propose a general approach based on SolidWorks Application Programming Interface (API) to simulate a serial robot’s task. The approach is mainly based on 3D models of the robotized site and time optimization ensuring accessibility and collision avoidance. To demonstrate the approach, a number of points representing a frequent and an important task (spot welding) by an industrial robot has been presented. The proposed simulation strategy gives collision free trajectory of robot motion which can be directly mapped to a real robot. Moreover, the approach provides the possibility to cope almost all problems related to the real implementation of serial robots. KEY WORDS Robotized sites, CAD based robotic systems, Industrial robot simulation. 1. Introduction Industrial development is the consequence of exploring novel manufacturing processes [1] for products development with improved quality at subsidized price. Thanks to technological innovation, today we have efficient synergetic tools to test and validate most stages of manufacturing process thereby avoiding considerable errors and problems of development and thus reducing the final cost of product. The intensive development of product models coupled with latest trends in computer science and engineering resulted in minimizing the time to market the products and to increase production rate significantly. Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) completely replaced the classical manufacturing processes from requir ements gathering to prototype and final product [2,3]. These enable foreseeing the products prior to their fabrication. Including the use of robots and robotic sites in the production chains led to increase production rates. The robots can effectively perform complex tasks or tasks of repetitive nature (resistance welding [4], handling of parts etc) with reasonable accuracy and tasks adaptability. They are generally versatile and adaptable to different variations of the task environment [5]. Generally, robotic chains have replaced the simple automation structures. The addition of CAD tools in robotics [4] has set new trends in the modern industry [6]. Currently robotic systems employ intensive use of CAD to design the robot mechanism, simulate the robots behaviour [6] and plan the desired trajectory [7,8]. A simple example of a task simulation has been illustrated in [9] based on Programming by Demonstration [10] strategy. CAD based robotics offers the possibility to graphically visualize the robot in its working area [11], the manipulated objects and various movements to achieve the desired task. The simulation [12] can discover and resolve problems like collision of robots with the working environment [13,14]. In fact it allows to test the feasibility of the task and to seek optimal solutions [15] for the performance of various manufacturing operations. CAD based robotics is often called upon to solve complex problems [6], some of which remain to this day as challenging research topics of robotics and computer science. In this work, we have developed an approach of modelling the robotic sites to create a CAD tool for simulating various stages of manufacturing process. Our objective was to develop a graphical simulation environment of serial robots integrate-able into standard CAD softwares. This integration has its obvious benefits in terms of easiness, time, cost, reuse and redesign requirements. The development of this simulation environment is realized by SolidWorks TM Application 664-107 485 Proceedings of the Conference - , 2009 November 2 4 Cambridge, MA, USA ( A 2009) 14th IASTED International Robotics and Applications R