PyMotionLab

A Python library for simulating, visualizing, analyzing robotic arm motion and built for learning and for real use.

PyMotionLab lets you define a robot arm's kinematic structure, compute forward and inverse kinematics, simulate motion over time, and visualize the result without needing physical hardware or a heavyweight robotics stack.

Why PyMotionLab

Most beginner-friendly robotics tools are either too simplified to teach real concepts, or too complex (ROS, full physics engines) to get started with quickly. PyMotionLab aims for the middle: real kinematics math, a clean API, and visual feedback, in a library small enough to read end-to-end.

Features (current + planned)

• Define robot arms via DH parameters or simple link/joint specs
• Forward kinematics
• Inverse kinematics (analytical + numerical)
• 2D/3D visualization of arm pose and motion
• Trajectory generation and animation
• Basic collision checking
• Arduino/serial bridge for driving real servos

See ROADMAP.md for the full version plan.

Installation

pip install pymotionlab

(Not yet published — for now, clone and install locally:)

git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/pymotionlab.git
cd pymotionlab
pip install -e .

Quick example

from pymotionlab import RobotArm

arm = RobotArm.from_dh_params([
    {"a": 0, "alpha": 90, "d": 0.1, "theta": 0},
    {"a": 0.3, "alpha": 0, "d": 0, "theta": 0},
    {"a": 0.25, "alpha": 0, "d": 0, "theta": 0},
])

pose = arm.forward_kinematics(joint_angles=[0, 45, -30])
print(pose.position, pose.orientation)

Documentation

Full documentation lives in docs/ (in progress). Start with:

• PyMotionLab_Handbook.docx — architecture, math background, coding standards, roadmap
• CONTRIBUTING.md — how to contribute
• ROADMAP.md — where the project is headed

Status

Early-stage, actively developed. APIs may change without notice until v1.0.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md for setup instructions and coding standards, and CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md for community expectations.