Robot Invasion Mac OS
- Thanks for the reply. I just tried the update and the robot spawn rate is much better. I think it would be nice to have a few options for AI in skirmish such as how many enemy opponents, remove the option for robots all together, maybe a AI play style types ie turtle/rush etc.
- The Robot Operating System (ROS) is not an actual operating system, but a framework and set of tools that provide functionality of an operating system on a heterogeneous computer cluster. Its usefulness is not limited to robots, but the majority of tools provided are focused on working with peripheral hardware.
- The Mac, which turns 30 on Friday, wasn't known as a gaming platform in its early days, but there were some ground-breaking games that came to the Mac first. Let's take a look.
- I am trying to run automation testing for website, but could not setup the system. I am using Mac OS X Lion (10.7.2) and I want want to write some automated test with robot framework over the SeleniumLibrary which is provided. Python 2.7 is installed and I use Firefox 9. I want to run this repo on my local machine.
In robotics and automation benefits of software simulation are apparent from early stages in the development life cycle of almost any product or system, and this is particularly true for industrial environments where equipment downtime periods are a key factor in the overall efficiency of a process. Today we take a look at RoboDK, a highly versatile development platform for industrial robot offline programming and simulation which supports over 200 industrial robots from leading manufacturers such as ABB, KUKA, Yaskawa, Adept and many more.
Robot Invasion Mac Os 11
Macintosh Operating System: The Macintosh Operating System (Mac OS) is an operating system (OS) designed by Apple Inc. To be installed and operated on the Apple Macintosh series of computers. Introduced in 1984, it is a graphical user interface (GUI) based OS that has since been released as multiple different versions. Initially, Mac OS was.
A bit of background, RoboDK is the commercial version of the perhaps better known RoKiSim robotic simulator developed at École de Technologie Supérieure (ETS) in Montreal, Canada by Ph.D. graduate Albert Nubiola. The software became pretty popular over its 3 years of existence so its creator founded RoboDK with the goal to create a more refined product for roboticists worldwide.
RoboDK is geared towards professional environments and is positioned as an offline programming solution for industrial robots. To better understand the benefits of this method we need to talk a little about teach pendant and lead through programming methods as well.
Both these methods require isolating the robot from its working environment for the entire period in which maintenance or reconfiguration is performed. Programming an industrial robot can become a quite time consuming task since multiple factors such as complexity of operations, energy efficiency, load or stress need to be taken into account. This stage has an important impact in the overall operating cost of a robot.
Another similar characteristic is that both these methods require human operators to maneuver the robot to desired location points that are learned. The teach pendant method involves a human operator manually driving the robot from a console using various coordinate systems (i.e. joint, tool, global etc.) to location points which are then stored for usage in the final program. The now obsolete lead through method involved a human operator physically moving the robot arm one position at a time, a task particularly difficult when working with heavy robots.
Offline programming is still not as widespread as teach pendant however it is rapidly gaining terrain thanks to its inherent advantages. Robotic equipment downtime is greatly reduced while complex software environments further aid development.
In RoboDK programs can be created either visually by using the integrated 3D simulation environment or by writing scripts in Python. Regardless of the method chosen the software can generate programs in robot specific languages – i.e. ABB uses RAPID, KUKA uses KRL and so on – so these can be easily uploaded to actual robots.
The 3D simulation environment offers many features, the user can play back a program and visualize every aspect of the robot behavior, the software generates alerts when robot singularities or possible collisions are detected, it allows the user to visualize the robot work space, optimize movements and avoid damage. The user can choose any reference plane when creating movements and can also have an overview of the whole technological process and program accordingly, an useful feature when the environment is more complex involving lots of interfering elements or even multiple robots. Right now the CAD model library consists of over 200 industrial robots, tools and external axes to choose from. Users can also design their own tools and customize the configuration of a chosen robot.
Robot Invasion Mac Os X
Accuracy testing and certification of robots can also be accomplished with RoboDK. A ballbar testing routine, better known as a method for calibrating CNC machines, can be selected and uploaded to the robot to check for accuracy and repeatability over time. This is useful for making adjustments to programs as wear and tear occurs to maintain peak productivity for the respective robot.
The software is well suited as an educational platform as well. Educators can set up demonstrations in class and students can perform experiments without fear of damaging otherwise expensive robot equipment. In fact the software can be used by anyone with an interest in industrial robotics regardless of their level of expertise. A set of workflow demonstrations can be viewed in the clips below.
The software is available as a free download for 32 and 64-bit versions of Windows, Mac OS, Ubuntu Linux and even Android.
Feel free to share your thoughts and impressions about this software or find out more information by accessing the resources below.
Resources
- Ballbar testing explained – Reinshaw
- Industrial robot programming methods – British Automation & Robot Association
In image template-based desktop automation, you provide the robot with screenshots of the parts of the interface that it needs to interact with, like a button or input field. The images are saved together with your automation code. The robot will compare the image to what is currently displayed on the screen and find its target.
Cross-platform desktop automation library
Robocorp provides cross-platform desktop automation support with the RPA.Desktop library. It works on Windows, Linux, and macOS.
Travel directions robot
This example robot demonstrates the use of image templates and keyboard shortcuts to find travel directions between two random locations on Earth.
The robot:
- Interacts with a web browser to select two random locations on Earth (from https://www.randomlists.com/random-location).
- Tries to find the directions using the Maps desktop app on macOS (Big Sur), using image templates and keyboard shortcuts.
- Falls back on the web version of Google Maps if Maps fails to find directions.
Note: This robot requires macOS Big Sur. The layout and the behavior of the Maps app vary between macOS releases. macOS will ask for permissions the first time you run the robot. Go to System Preferences ->Security & Privacy and check Robocorp Lab, Code, or Terminal (depending on where you run the robot from) in the Accessibility and Screen Recording sections.
Another important topic:
System settings can impact the recognition of the images: How the interface elements look on a screen depends on system settings like color schemes, transparency, and system fonts. Images taken on a system might end up looking different than the target system, and the robot might not recognize them, stopping the process.
In this case, macOS should use the 'Dark' appearance under System Preferences ->General. See our Desktop automation page for more information.
The settings
The robot uses three libraries to automate the task. Finally, it will close all the browsers it happened to open.
The task: Find travel directions between two random locations
Variables
Keyword: Get random locations
The robot uses a web browser to scrape and return two random locations from a suitable website.
Keyword: Open the Maps app
The robot opens the Maps app using the Run Process keyword from the Process library. It executes the open -a Maps command. You can run the same command in your terminal to see what happens!
The robot knows when the Maps app is open by waiting for the Maps.MapModeimage template to return a match.
Keyword: Maximize the window
The robot maximizes the Maps app window using a keyboard shortcut unless the app is already maximized. The Run Keyword If is used for conditional execution.
The robot knows the Maps app is maximized when the Desktop.WindowControls image template does not return a match (when the close/minimize/maximize icons are not anywhere on the screen).
Keyword: Open and reset the directions view
The robot sets the directions view in the Maps app to a known starting state (empty from and to locations).
- Conditional execution is used to handle the possible states for the view (it might or might not be open already).
- Image templates are used to wait for specific app states so that the robot knows when something has been completed.
- Keyboard shortcuts are used to toggle the directions view.
Keyword: Accept Google consent
Keyword: View directions using Google Maps
Mac Os Catalina
The robot waits until Google Maps has loaded the directions and takes a full web page screenshot.
Keyword: Enter location
The robot needs to input the from and to locations. This keyword provides a generic way to target those elements on the UI.
Keyword: View directions
The robot tries to find the directions using the Maps app. If that fails, the robot gets the directions from Google Maps.
Robot Invasion Mac Os 11
Summary
- Image template matching is a cross-platform way to find and target UI elements.
- Keyboard shortcuts are the preferred way to interact with desktop applications (the shortcuts are usually more stable and predictable than the UI).
- Conditional logic can be used to select different actions based on the state of the application.