Procedure for integration of an articulated robot model in a game engine

The versatility and power of modern game engine platforms provide the potential for their use in creating real-time simulation environments within the robotics domain, particularly suitable for immersive and interactive experiences. Equipped with the comprehensive toolsets, extensive toolkits, and built-in features, these integrated development environments support the creation of real-time robot simulation models. Recently, Extended-Reality technology has been used in the development of human-machine interfaces in industrial robotics, in applications such as robot programming, system engineering, and personnel training. In this paper, the procedure for the integration of a vertically articulated robot's model in the Unity game engine is presented. The main goal of the procedure is to generate a 3D GameObject robot in Unity, starting from a 3D model of the robot obtained using 3D design software. Positioning of robot joints' local frames in a CAD environment for integration of a robot with Unity is described. The Articulation Body class from Unity's built-in physics engine, Nvidia PhysX, is used to integrate robot dynamics. Specific XML formats following open-source standards, equipped with elements and attributes specific to robot kinematic and dynamic structure and suitable add-ons, have been used. The procedure is verified using the 6DoF vertically articulated robots RL15 and AD100.