Robot Workbench¶

In one sentence: The Robot workbench simulates 6-axis industrial robot motion — place a robot model in a scene, build a trajectory of waypoints, run a forward/inverse kinematics simulation, and export the result as a Kuka KRL programme.

What is the Robot workbench for?¶

The Robot workbench models the motion of an industrial 6-axis serial robot (like a Kuka, FANUC, or ABB arm). It is a path-planning and simulation tool, not a motion-control interface — it does not connect to real robots.

Common uses:

Verifying that a robot can reach all points on a welding or milling path without hitting joint limits or colliding with the fixture.
Generating a KRL (Kuka Robot Language) programme skeleton from a trajectory defined in FreeCAD.
Teaching yourself how industrial robot kinematics work by interactively setting joint angles and observing the TCP.

Core concepts¶

Robot model¶

A robot is represented by a Robot::RobotObject in the document. It stores:

A VRML file for the visual mesh of each link.
A kinematic file (.csv format) defining the Denavit–Hartenberg (DH) parameters for each joint.
Six joint angle properties (Axis1–Axis6), in degrees.
A Tool placement — the transformation from the flange to the tool centre point (TCP).
A Tcp property — the current TCP placement in world coordinates.
A Home property — the stored home joint angles.

The default robot (if no kinematic file is supplied) is a Puma 560.

Forward and inverse kinematics¶

The Robot6Axis Python class performs real-time kinematics:

Forward kinematics (FK): Set Axis1–Axis6 → Tcp updates.
Inverse kinematics (IK): Set Tcp → Axis1–Axis6 update.

Waypoints and trajectories¶

Concept	Description
Waypoint	A target TCP placement with name, motion type, velocity, and tool/base frame references
Motion type: LIN	Linear Cartesian interpolation to the target
Motion type: PTP	Point-to-point (joint-interpolated) motion
Trajectory	An ordered list of waypoints
Trajectory Compound	Multiple trajectories concatenated into one execution sequence
Trajectory Dress-up	Overrides applied on top of an existing trajectory (speed, orientation)

Kuka KRL export¶

The trajectory can be exported as: - Compact KRL — a condensed subroutine, one line per waypoint. - Full KRL — a complete subroutine with declarations, variable assignments, and tool/base frame setup.

Workflow overview¶

Insert robot model
        │
        ▼
Place robot (set location in scene)
        │
        ▼
Set home position
        │
        ▼
Create empty trajectory
        │
        ├── Insert waypoints manually (set axes → insert TCP)
        │   or
        └── Generate from edges (Edge to Trajectory)
                │
                ▼
        Apply dress-up (speed, orientation overrides)
                │
                ▼
        Simulate trajectory
                │
                ▼
        Export to Kuka KRL