Title: Monitoring and Controlling Robotic Arm using IoT

Abstract:

The integration of the Internet of Things (IoT) with robotics has revolutionized
the field of automation. This abstract introduces the concept of "Monitoring and
Controlling Robotic Systems Using IoT" as a pivotal innovation in robotics
technology. The synergy between IoT and robotics opens up new horizons for
real-time monitoring, remote control, and automation of robotic systems.
IoT-enabled robotic systems harness a network of sensors, connectivity, and
cloud computing to collect data, transmit information, and execute commands
seamlessly. The ability to monitor robotic operations in real-time and exert
control remotely has far-reaching implications across various industries,
including manufacturing, healthcare, agriculture, and logistics.
This abstract outlines the key components of IoT in robotics, emphasizing the
role of sensors, data transmission, and user interfaces. It highlights the benefits
of IoT, including improved efficiency, reduced downtime, and the capacity for
remote operation, which translates into increased productivity and cost savings
for businesses.
As IoT continues to evolve, it is driving the next wave of innovation in the
robotics industry. This abstract concludes by recognizing the profound impact
of IoT on industries that rely on robotics and underscores the transformative
potential of this technology. Monitoring and controlling robotic systems using
IoT represents a paradigm shift, and its continued development promises a
future where robotics becomes more efficient, accessible, and integrated into
our daily lives.
Keywords: - IoRT, Raspberry Pi Robotics, Remote Control, IoT Integration
 Title: Monitoring and Controlling Robotic Arm using IoT

INTRODUCTION

The emergence of technology has managed to witness the evolvement of a new

era known as the Internet of Things (IoT). The Internet of things (IoT) further
describes the internetworking of physical devices, vehicles, buildings, and other
items which include electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and network
connectivity that allow these objects to collect and exchange data. In addition, it
also allows objects to be sensed or remotely controlled across an existing
network infrastructure, which will result in increased performance, accuracy,
and economic benefit. Presently, robot is widely utilized in most of the
industries due to its added advantages that can compensate the human inability
to operate in hazardous area, reliability, high precision, and accuracy. Hence, it
is safe to say that robot is used as a human replacement.
A robot is described as a machine designed to perform a particular task based on
the programming created by the user. More importantly, it allows multitasking
to be performed at a time. The most common robot used for industrial purposes
is the robotic arm. In general, the robotic arm is a mechanical arm that can be
programmable similar to the functions of a human arm. The main task of the
robotic arm is to move an end effector from place to place such as pick up as
well as carry different objects. The current revolution of IoT coupled with the
growing usage of robots in daily activities have turned the Internet of Robotics
Things (IoRT) applications into a tangible reality in the nearest future. The
advantage of IoRT is that it allows robotic systems to connect, share, and pass
the distributed computation resources, business activities, context information,
and environmental data with each other. Interestingly, users can delegate the
task to it remotely through networks provided that the robot is connected to the
internet; hence, this implies that user does not have to be present on the site
because the job can be entirely performed by the robot. As a result, this opens a
new horizon in the domain of connected robotics that is expected to lead to
fascinating futuristic developments. Apart from that, it will also examine the
ways in which IoT technologies and robotic “devices” intersect to produce
advanced robotic capabilities.
The IoT technologies have been observed to expand over the recent years;
however, most of the established work only aimed at utilizing the IoT
technologies for extremely resource-constrained nodes such as sensor network
nodes that can only send collected data to base stations. Hence, it is safe to say
that the application of IoT technologies into the robotics field has received little
 Title: Monitoring and Controlling Robotic Arm using IoT

attention. In relation to this, there are high demands from various industries to
use IoT technology in a robotic application based on the Industry 4.0 revolution
Hence, an effectively embedded device is required to control and monitor
robotic arm. In the context of this study, a Raspberry Pi is chosen to assist in the
implementation of these systems considering that it has more advantages than
others. Raspberry Pi is used as a controller and web server for the robotic arm.
Specifically, a web server will deliver a web page to the other computer in the
same network, thus allowing the user to access the web pages in order to control
the robot arm. In this project, the implementation of web server is for the
purpose of providing remote control and monitoring the robotic arm across
existing network infrastructure. Raspberry Pi board is used as the embedded
device in this project, while Analog Radio Control (RC) servomotor is
employed as the actuator of the designed robot arm. More specifically,
Raspberry Pi is designed to control the analog RC servomotor of angle as well
as the direction of rotation. Not to mention, it is also used as a web server for
remote controlling as well as robotic arm monitoring. It is worth to note that
both the hardware and software are involved in this project.

Aims and Objectives

• Enhance automation and efficiency in various industries such as

manufacturing, logistics, and healthcare.
• Perform a wide range of tasks with high precision, speed, and accuracy.
• Improve safety, reduce costs, and provide flexibility in operations.
• Provide businesses with a versatile and flexible tool that can enhance
productivity, safety, and efficiency while reducing costs
and optimizing operations
 Title: Monitoring and Controlling Robotic Arm using IoT

Literature Review

A robotic arm is a mechanical arm that can be programmed to perform tasks

similar to those performed by humans. The robotic arm's primary function is to
move an end effector between locations, such as to pick up and transfer various
objects [1]. Because of the current IoT revolution and the increasing use of
robots in daily operations, Internet of Robotics Things (IoRT) applications are
rapidly becoming a reality. IoRT benefits robotic systems by connecting,
exchanging, and transmitting distributed computation resources, business
activities, context information, and environmental data [2]. If the robot is
connected to the internet, users can delegate jobs to it remotely via networks;
this eliminates the need for the user to be physically present on-site because the
job can be completed entirely by the robot. The capabilities of the robotic
system are enhanced by IoT technology, which is illustrated with an HMI
interface implemented in a smartphone via wireless Wi-Fi connectivity using an
ESP32 microcontroller. The arm's objective is to create a low-cost and
reproducible robot that assists comprehension of robotics design through
project-based learning, from theoretical elements through practical coding and
prototype fabrication. [3]. The Raspberry Pi serves as the robotic arm's
controller and web server. A web server, for example, will provide a web page
to another computer on the same network, allowing the user to control the robot
arm by accessing the web sites. From the review of some articles and journals,
there is some knowledge that can be related to the robotic arm controller based
on IoT. The overall thesis mainly focuses on how to control an arm robot.
Ankur Bhargava [4] has been proposed a robotic arm by with 5 DOF. The
robotic arm is controlled by an Arduino Uno microcontroller, which receives
user input through a set of potentiometers. The arm is made up of four rotating
joints and an end effector, with a servomotor providing rotary motion. Each link
was created in Solidworks Sheet Metal Working Toolbox and then cut from a
2mm thick aluminium sheet. The arm's final shape was created by connecting
the servomotors and linkages. The Arduino has been programmed to rotate each
servo motor in response to the potentiometer shaft's rotation. The nature of the
relative movements of a robot's links can be utilised to characterise it. Rahul
Gautam [5] has proposed a robotic arm as well. This type of selective robotic
control is essential to tackle challenges such as placing or picking objects that
are located a long distance away from the worker. Because the robot's
movement can be precisely controlled, the robotic arm has proven a success.
Because changing the cable is expensive, it is necessary to design the table to
reduce friction in order to increase the time between maintenance. Vaibhav
 Title: Monitoring and Controlling Robotic Arm using IoT

Pawar et al. [6] refined the robotic arm's design and development using an
Arduino controlled robotic arm, allowing it to be put into a robot that can
analyse hazardous areas and perform material handling. To investigate those
torque properties, we use a humanoid robot arm model and use it to mimic
typical object lifting and transferring activities. The bulk of contemporary
robotic hands do not fully replace the capabilities of a human hand and cannot
be employed in places where human hands are required. Robotic Arm Control
Using the Internet of Things was proposed by Shuangquan Fu et al. [7]. These
difficulties of near real-time data transfer and multi-platform implementation at
the control end can be solved using the Internet of Things (IoT) and web apps.
This article details the design and implementation of a web-based robotic arm
control system using the MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport)
protocol and an ESP8266 microcontroller (a network data transmission
module). These technologies provide web-based control of robotic equipment
that is platform-independent, enabling precise and real-time manipulator control
from remote places.

Methodology:

Fig: Block Diagram

 Title: Monitoring and Controlling Robotic Arm using IoT

The main part of the project is the robotic arm, which can pick and place things
from one place to another. To control this action we can move the robotic arm
by giving specific commands. The robotic arm is equipped with servo motors.
These motors help to move the arm in desired direction. The motors are
controlled with the help of a micro controller.The user interface which is used to
control the robotic arm is made on a web page or an app. The control is given
via the internet to the wifi module. This acts as the receiver and gives the
received signal to the microcontroller. The microcontroller will act as per the given
instructions and display the related message on the LCD display. The signal which is given to
the robotic arm is actually sent through the internet and hence we can access the
robot from any place. However the web page or the app must require a login ID
and a password for security reasons, for a particular person to control the
robotic arm. The movements which are made by the robotic arm can be
recorded and saved. In this way the arm can do the same movements repeatedly
whenever needed.
• IOT(Internet Of Things):
The Internet of things (IoT) is the internetworking of physical devices. The
concept was simple but powerful. If all objects in daily life were equipped with
identifiers and wireless connectivity, these objects could be communicating
with each other and be managed by computers.
The Three Cs of IoT:
• Communication -It is the interconnection between the user and
system/device.
• Control and Automation - It is programmed once as if any changes in
output parameter it will alert the uses and hence it can be control or it can
be automated for any particular work.
• Cost Savings - Many companies will adopt IoT to save money. As when a
machine loses to fulfill a company product on time the company will lose
its money. With new sensor information, IoT can help a company to save
money by reducing equipment failure and allowing the business to
perform perfectly.

The Internet of things (IoT) is the internetworking of physical devices, vehicles

(also referred to as "connected devices" and "smart devices"), buildings, and
other items embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and
network connectivity that enable these objects to collect and exchange data.
 Title: Monitoring and Controlling Robotic Arm using IoT

Typically, IoT is expected to offer advanced connectivity of devices, systems,

and services that goes beyond machine- to-machine (M2M) communications
and covers a variety of protocols, domains, and applications. The
interconnection of these embedded devices (including smart objects), is
expected to usher in automation in nearly all fields, while also enabling
advanced applications like a smart grid, and expanding to the areas such as
smart cities.
"Things" in the IoT sense, can refer to a wide variety of devices such as heart
monitoring implants, biochip transponders on farm animals, electric clams in
coastal waters, automobiles with built-in sensors, DNA analysis devices for
environmental/food/pathogen monitoring or field operation devices that assist
firefighters in search and rescue operations.

• ROBOTIC ARM
It integrates mechanical, electrical, electronics, control engineering, computer
science, technology, math and science. Robots are indispensable in many
manufacturing industries.
More than this, once programmed, robots repeatedly perform functions with a
high accuracy that surpasses that of the most experienced human operator.
The links of such a manipulator are connected by joints allowing either
rotational motion (such as in an articulated robot) or translational (linear)
displacement. The links of the manipulator can be considered to form a
kinematic chain. The terminus of the kinematic chain of the manipulator is
called the end effector and it is analogous to the human hand.
There are several types of robot arms. The most flexible design is articulated
and has between four and six axes. Articulated robot models boast a variety of
work envelope sizes and maximum payload capacities. Tooling is attached to
the end of the robot arm to move, position, and otherwise manipulate a part. The
work envelope is the area a robot arm can reach within its normal range of
motions. Maximum payload is the highest amount of weight a robot arm can
safely carry and manipulate. It includes the weight of any additions to the robot
arm, including the tooling.
 Title: Monitoring and Controlling Robotic Arm using IoT

ADVANTAGES
• Lifting and moving heavy objects.
• Increasing productivity, safety, efficiency, and quality of products.
• Achieving more accuracy than human beings.
• Easy to monitor and control things.
Application
• Industrial application – pick and place.
• Third hand – The arm holds the object while operators work on it.
• Small drill in manufacturing processes.
• Medical Field where minor surgeries are required.
• Retrieving Suspicious objects without endangering humans.

TECHNIQUES:

• IoT Connectivity: The project involved setting up an IoT network to enable

communication between the Raspberry Pi and the robotic arm. Techniques for
establishing network connections and data exchange were implemented.
• Web Development: To create the user interface for remote control and
monitoring, web development techniques were employed. This included the
design and coding of web pages for user interaction.
• Hardware Integration: Techniques for integrating hardware components,
such as the Raspberry Pi and the Analog Radio Control (RC) servomotor, were
applied. This involved physical connections, wiring, and configuration.
• Software Development: Software development techniques were used to
program the Raspberry Pi to control the servomotor and manage the IoT
connection. This included coding and scripting in relevant programming
languages.
 Title: Monitoring and Controlling Robotic Arm using IoT

• Testing and Validation: Techniques for rigorous testing and validation were
applied to ensure the stability and reliability of the IoRT system. This involved
test cases, data analysis, and quality assurance procedures.

Conclusion
The IoT-based arm robot is a promising technology that has the potential to
revolutionize various industries, including manufacturing, healthcare, and
agriculture. A detailed study of this technology showed that it involves the
integration of sensors, actuators, and communication protocols to enable the
robot to interact with its environment and perform complex tasks. The use of
IoT in robotics enables real-time monitoring and control of the robot, making it
more efficient and accurate in its operations. It can also be used for predictive
maintenance, which helps prevent breakdowns and reduces downtime.
Additionally, IoT-based arm robots can be remotely controlled and monitored,
providing opportunities for remote work and collaboration. While the
technology is still in its early stages, there is immense potential for further
development and improvement. Future research could focus on enhancing the
accuracy and reliability of the sensors and communication protocols, as well as
exploring new applications in different industries. Overall, the IoT-based arm
robot presents many exciting possibilities for the future of robotics and
automation. Its integration with IoT technology has the potential to make robots
more efficient, autonomous, and adaptable to different environments, ultimately
leading to increased productivity and cost savings for businesses. This report
highlights the importance and benefits of adopting this technology and provides
a basis for further research and development in this field.
 Title: Monitoring and Controlling Robotic Arm using IoT

References
[1] M. E. Moran, 2007 Evolution of robotic arms, J. Robot. Surg., vol 1 pp 103–
111
[2] P. P. Ray 2017 Internet of Robotic Things: Concept, Technologies, and
Challenges, IEEE Acesss vol 4 p 1–1
[3] Victor H. Benitez, Rodrigo Symonds, David E. Elguezabal, 2020 Design of
an affordable IoT open-source robot arm for online teaching of robotics courses
during the pandemic contingency, HardwareX, Elsevier vol 8 p1 E00158
[4] Ankur Bhargava and Anjani Kumar, 2017 Arduino controlled robotic arm”,
IEEE of International conference of Electronics, Communication and Aerospace
Technology (ICECA).
[5] Rahul Gautam, Ankush Gedam, Ashish Zade and Ajay Mahawadiwar, 2017
Review on Development of Industrial Robotic Arm, Journal of Industrial
Research & Development vol 4 p3
[6] Vaibhav Pawar, Sneha Bire, Komal More, Reshma MuleShubham More,
2018 Review on Design and Development of Robotic Arm Generation-1,
International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology, vol 3
[7] Shuangquan Fu and P. Bhavsar, 2019 Robotic Arm Control Based on
Internet of Things, IEEE of Long Island Systems, Applications and Technology
Conference (LISAT).