Design of a Software Framework for a Customized Robotic Arm

Overview

This project focused on the design and implementation of a software framework for a customized 6-DOF robotic arm in Beijing (Feb 2023 – Dec 2023).
I served as Software Architect and Developer, responsible for the overall framework design and core module development.

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Key Contributions

• Developed open-source driver code for a customized 6-DOF robotic arm on Ubuntu.

• Integrated core functionalities including:
  • Motor hardware communication
  • Motion control (including force control)
  • Path planning
• Implemented the framework in C++ and Python, supporting:
  • ROS 1
  • ROS 2
  • Non-ROS users

• Designed a driver–module–task architecture to decouple components for improved scalability.

• Implemented:
  • Automatic state machine management
  • Multi-threading mechanisms
  • Template-based class design

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System Characteristics

The framework emphasizes:

• Modular structure
• Scalability
• Cross-platform usability
• Support for different middleware environments

This project strengthened my experience in robotic software architecture design and system-level integration.