Get Started

Learn the basics of using KINOVA Gen3 robot with Robotics System Toolbox™ Support Package for Kinova^® Gen3 Manipulators

If the intended end goal of your application involves standalone manipulation of the KINOVA Gen3 robot only, control and connectivity workflow using matlab_kortex API is an ideal solution. However, in majority of the robotics use-cases, the environment consists of multiple robots and sensors, and the standalone manipulation is not common. In such scenarios, ROS is widely used due to inherent advantages of hardware abstraction, device drivers, libraries, visualizers, message-passing, package management, and so on.

For more information on the comparison between these two interfaces, refer to Select Interface for Connecting to Kinova Gen3 Robot. The support package includes examples to control individual joint angles and cartesian pose of the robot. More advanced examples demonstrate how to use Robotics System Toolbox features to compute joint angles required to track a smooth trajectory in 3D space and command the robot to track the pre-computed trajectory.

Topics

Verify Connection to Kinova Gen 3 Robot
Verify network connection to Gen3 robot from MATLAB^®
Clear Existing Faults
Clear existing faults while working with Gen3 robot
Get Latest URDF Robot Model for KINOVA Gen3 Robot
Update URDF to the latest version, if required
Select Interface for Connecting to Kinova Gen3 Robot
Use either matlab_kortex or ros_kortex for connection

MATLAB MEX Interface

Download MATLAB MEX APIs for Kinova Gen 3

Download MATLAB MEX APIs from Kinova Robotics.

Test Basic Connection and Move the Wrist Joint

Perform basic tests to connect to Gen3 robot and move a wrist joint of the robot.

Configure MATLAB to Acquire Images from Vision Module

Perform configuration steps in MATLAB to acquire images from Gen3 robot's Vision Module.

MATLAB ROS Interface

Getting Started with ROS Connectivity

The robot can be connected to the MATLAB using different methods depending on the communication interface provided by the robot manufacturer.

STEP 1: Connect to the Kinova Gen3 Robot and Initiate Required ROS Nodes to Control the Robot
STEP 2: Connect to ROS Network
STEP 3: Read Joint Angles
STEP 4: Manipulate Individual Joint Angle Using MATLAB
STEP 5: Control Cartesian Pose Using MATLAB
STEP 6: Send Precomputed Trajectory to the Robot

Connect to the Kinova Gen3 Robot and Initiate Required ROS Nodes to Acquire Image Data from Vision Sensor

Open the terminal from the catkin workspace containing ros_kortex ROS packages in the host computer or VM where ROS is installed.

Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting Manipulator Support Package

Troubleshoot issues with manipulating Gen3 robot using the support package and understand the limitations.

Featured Examples

Connect to Kinova Gen3 Robot and Manipulate the Arm Using MATLAB

Demonstrates how to connect the Kinova Gen3 7-DoF Ultralightweight Robot arm to MATLAB® and Simulink®. This also helps you to get feedback from the robot and to send control commands.

Open Live Script

Track Pre-Computed Trajectory of Kinova Gen3 Robot End-Effector Using Inverse Kinematics and KINOVA KORTEX MATLAB API

Solve inverse kinematics problems using Rigid Body Trees and move the Kinova Gen3 7-DoF Ultralightweight Robot arm to follow the desired trajectory.

Open Live Script

Generate a Trajectory Using a Set of Waypoints for KINOVA Gen3 Robot End-Effector

Generate and interpolate trajectories from a set of waypoints. This example covers common ways of generating trajectories for robot arms such as cubic polynomials, quintic polynomials, and trapezoidal trajectories.

Open Live Script

Control KINOVA Gen3 Robotic Manipulator Using KINOVA KORTEX System Object and Simulink

Connect to the KINOVA® Gen3 7-DoF Ultralightweight Robot arm with Simulink®. It includes blocks to get feedback from the robot and send control commands.

Open Model

Control Cartesian Position of KINOVA Gen3 Robot End-Effector Using Inverse Kinematics Block and KINOVA KORTEX System Object

Solve inverse kinematics problems using Rigid Body Trees and how to control the KINOVA Gen3 7-DoF Ultralightweight Robot Arm to follow the desired trajectory.

Open Model

Generate Colorized Point Cloud Using Vision Module of Kinova Gen3 Robot

Connect to the cameras of Kinova Gen3 7-DoF Ultralightweight Robot and get the RGB and depth streams. Acquired images are utilized to create colorized point clouds of the environment.

Open Live Script

Read Current Joint Angles from KINOVA Gen3 Robot Arm

Connect to the KINOVA Gen3 7-DoF Ultralightweight Robot arm with Simulink® using Robot Operating System (ROS). This includes ROS message Subscribe block to get feedback from the robot.

Open Model

Control Individual Joint Angle of KINOVA Gen3 Robot

Connect to the KINOVA Gen3 7-DoF Ultralightweight Robot arm with with Simulink® using Robot Operating System (ROS). This includes ROS message Subscribe and Publish blocks to get feedback from the robot and then send commands to the robot to reach a particular joint configuration.

Open Model

Send KINOVA Gen3 Robot Arm to Desired Cartesian Pose

Open Model

Send Precomputed Trajectory to KINOVA Gen3 Robot Arm

Connect to the KINOVA Gen3 7-DoF Ultralightweight Robot arm with with Simulink® using Robot Operating System (ROS). This includes ROS message Subscribe and Publish blocks to get feedback from the robot and then send command to the robot to follow a precomputed joint trajectory.

Open Model