This site has links to display code for the different manipulators as well as implementation examples. You should be able to incorporate these display functions into your homework assignmented. Some are rudimentary (simple lines and circles), some are more complex (3D models).

The manipulators to appear in the homework range from a simple R2 manipulator up to an R4 manipulator. The code for each of them is below:

• Planar R2 (default link lengths: 1, 3/4)
• Planar R3 (default link lengths: 1, 1/2, 1/4)
• Planar R4 (default link lengths: 1, 1, 1/2, 1/4)

Invocation is pretty straightforward. Almost always goes as follows:

planarRX_display(alphaJoints, linkLens, gripLen);

although the second and third arguments are optional. For each of them, an additional link length can be specified that gives the gripper opening width. Suppose that you had run ode45 or some other numerical integrator in Matlab and want to visualize the resulting simulation, then the following should work:

nframes = 100;
tvect = linspace(ti,tf,nframes);
for tT = tvect
  alphaT = interp1(tsol, alphasol, tT);
  planarRX_display(alphaT, ll, gl);
end

where it is assumed that tsol and alphasol were the ouputs of the numerical integrator.

The simplest manipulator to be used in the course is called *piktul* as named by the student who helped me design it. It is the simplest instantiation of a SCARA manipulator that we could create using laser cut parts and the lowest-torque, lowest-cost servo motors available.

The slightly more fully functional manipulator to be used in the course is called the *Lynx 6* manipulator made by Lynxmotion. We have different versions, from the earliest Lexan one, up to the more recent aluminum ones.