One Interface, Many Robots: Unified Real-Time Low-Level Motion Planning for Collaborative Arms

TL;DR

This paper introduces a unified, real-time low-level motion planning interface for collaborative robotic arms, enhancing portability and control precision across different hardware platforms.

Contribution

It presents a minimal, flexible interface using polynomial interpolation and quadratic programming for smooth trajectory generation, validated across diverse scenarios.

Findings

Accurately drew geometric shapes on paper in offline tests.

Successfully grasped a moving object during re-planning.

Controlled another robot for dexterous manipulation in teleoperation.

Abstract

This paper proposes a common interface for real-time low-level motion planning of collaborative robotic arms, aimed at enabling broader applicability and improved portability across heterogeneous hardware platforms. In previous work, we introduced WinGs Operating Studio (WOS), a middleware solution that abstracts diverse robotic components into uniform software resources and provides a broad suite of language-agnostic APIs. This paper specifically focuses on its minimal yet flexible interface for real-time end-effector trajectory control. By employing an n-degree polynomial interpolator in conjunction with a quadratic programming solver, the proposed method generates smooth, continuously differentiable trajectories with precise position, velocity, and acceleration profiles. We validate our approach in three distinct scenarios. First, in an offline demonstration, a collaborative arm accurately draws various geometric shapes on paper. Second, in an interruptible, low-frequency re-planning setting, a robotic manipulator grasps a dynamic object placed on a moving mobile robot. Finally, we conducted a teleoperation experiment in which one robotic arm controlled another to perform a series of dexterous manipulations, confirming the proposed method's reliability, versatility, and ease of use.