UNIVERSAL ROBOTS UR3 Pricing & Product Details

• 2022

We use this robot in an experiment with end-users trying a block-based language for mobile robots. UR5 was mounted on top of a MiR 250 mobile robot, and it was used by the participants to solve a pick-and-place task using our block-based language. In general, I must say that this is a very solid robot. Universal Robots, in my personal opinion, is one of (if not the) best companies in terms of software development support. Using their API we were able to implement the language as we wanted. The robot itself is also very easy to manipulate using lead-through mode; the participants in our experiment had no issues manipulating it. In terms of operating system and configuration, Universal Robots is also really good, no issues at all.

• 2022

I used it for academic purposes, to test different types of non-linear controls and their performances. The first approach was carried out in Matlab simulation with Peter Cork's robotics toolbox, which I recommend for its simplicity. The porting of the various control techniques from the simulation to the real robot has been made simple thanks to the user manual. On the internet it is also possible to find a lot of support regarding the more classic problems

The arm is powerful (as per the datasheet) and very accurate. The structure, in addition to being pleasant, is robust. The ability to test trajectories a priori in a simulated environment has made testing on the real robot much safer. The robot comes with polyscope, a very simple GUI for programming the robot. From this interface it is possible to connect the robot with the modbus, and therefore with any other microcontroller you want.

Polyscope is very simple to use, but it is built with JAVA FX, and the result is a slightly retro GUI. For the cost of the robot, I would have hoped for a more attractive GUI. Obviously, this does not affect the functioning of the robot. I would have liked more support from the vendor towards other external tools, like matlab or ROS.