Presented by Yanliang Zhang

1. 1© 2015 The MathWorks, Inc.
Using MATLAB and Simulink for Robot
Simulation and Implementation
Yanliang Zhang (Ph.D.)
Robotics Product and Industry Manager
Yanliang.Zhang@mathworks.com
RoboUniverse, 5/11/2015

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Tesla Roadster:
Whole Car Simulated using Simulink

3. 3
Orion Spacecraft
Successful first flight
(unmanned) Dec. 5, 2014

4. 4
Thought‐controlled prosthetics

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#1 (tied) Drone Formation Flying – University of Sydney

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Smart Emergency Response System

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Move from Simulation to Implementation?
Hand convert
to C/C++
node?
Simulation Implementation

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Demos…
1. Airplane Wing Landing Gear Control
2. Design and Test Robotics Algorithms Robots or
Simulators with MATLAB
3. Design and Test Robotics Algorithms Robots or
Simulators with Simulink

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Demo1 Overview: Airplane Wing Landing Gear
Control
Switch to Demo

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Demo 2 Overview: Design and Test Robotics
Algorithms
Prototype
algorithms
(e.g., Path Planning)
in MATLAB
Test algorithms
with ROS-enabled
Simulators such
as Gazebo
Test algorithms on
a Robot
and
analyze the
performance with
rosbag
Switch to Demo

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Demo 2: Design and Test Robotics Algorithms
• Prototype a path-planning algorithm in MATLAB

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Demo 2: Design and Test Robotics Algorithms
• Test it with Gazebo through MATLAB-ROS Interface

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Demo 2: Design and Test Robotics Algorithms
• Test it with a physical robot running ROS

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Demo 2: Design and Test Robotics Algorithms
• Analyze the performance by reading rosbag files

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Demo 3 Overview: Generate a ROS Node from
a Simulink Model
Prototype
algorithms
(e.g., Collision
Avoidance)
in Simulink
Test algorithms
with a ROS-
enabled Simulator
or Robot
Generate a
standalone ROS
node from the
Simulink Model
Switch to Demo

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Demo 3: Generate a ROS Node from a
Simulink Model
• Connect Simulink Model to a ROS network to simulate a Collision
Avoidance algorithm

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Demo 3: Generate a ROS Node from a
Simulink Models
• Convert Simulink model to C++ code for a standalone ROS node

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Demo 3: Generate a ROS Node from a
Simulink Model
• Verify the generated ROS node

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Key Features of Robotics System Toolbox (v1.0)
• MATLAB-ROS Interface
• Simulink-ROS Interface
• Robotics Algorithms
• Comprehensive Demos

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Key Takeaways
 Robot simulation is important
 Moving from simulation to implementation is easy,
especially if you use MATLAB/Simulink
 MathWorks new launched Robotics System Toolbox
has seamless integration between MATLAB/Simulink
and ROS and Gazebo

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Thank You…
Yanliang Zhang (Ph.D.)
Robotics Product and Industry Manager
Yanliang.Zhang@mathworks.com