MQTT Enabled Simulation Interface for Motion Execution of Industrial Robots

With the increasing complexity of industrial systems, it is required to involve different components in robotic applications. The interfaces used to access information and control processes are of great importance for developing interconnected Industry 4.0 solutions. To improve the connectivity of the software used for research on industrial automation, we introduce an MQTT Extension that enables external clients to read and write the values of the properties used to digitally describe a robotic system. The integration of an MQTT interface allows parametrizing blocks in a Visual Programming environment, enabling external clients to ask for simulations of robot motions for a specific target position. The introduced functionality is demonstrated in two applications where the outcome of a program simulation is stored in a database and later executed in a real demonstrator using an industrial robot, and where a virtual robot provides on-demand motion simulations.