usefulweb.site Kinetica

Robot motion studio

Kinetica

Simulate robot arms in your browser: kinematics, trajectories, collisions, program export.

Kinetica is a free robot motion studio that runs entirely in your browser. Load a 6-axis industrial arm, a UR-style cobot, a SCARA, a gantry or a planar teaching arm (or define your own with DH tables or URDF), jog it in a WebGL 3D view, drag the TCP with live inverse kinematics and program PTP, LIN and CIRC moves with blending. It plans trapezoidal, quintic and S-curve trajectories within joint limits, checks collisions, estimates cycle time and exports CSV/JSON motion plans, G-code and readable KRL-like and RAPID-like program templates.

Launch Kinetica → Tutorials

Free · runs in your browser · no sign-up · Version 1.0.0

Screenshots

Features

  • Robot library

    Generic 6R industrial arm, UR-style cobot (published UR5 DH table), PUMA 560 textbook model, SCARA, XYZ gantry and a 2-link planar teaching arm.

  • Robot editor

    Standard and modified DH tables or URDF-style joint origins, joint limits, velocity and acceleration limits, link geometry as capsules, cylinders, spheres and boxes.

  • URDF import & export

    Read and write a practical URDF subset: links, revolute/continuous/prismatic/fixed joints, origins, limits and box/cylinder/sphere geometry.

  • WebGL 3D viewport

    Orbit, pan and zoom, grid floor, frame triads, solid or wireframe rendering, view presets and a print-ready snapshot.

  • TCP gizmo with live IK

    Drag the tool centre point along its axes and watch the joints follow; jog sliders for every joint with limit bars.

  • Forward & inverse kinematics

    Exact FK, damped-least-squares IK from several seeds, closed forms for planar arms and SCARAs, all solutions listed with residuals.

  • Jacobian & singularities

    Geometric Jacobian, Yoshikawa manipulability and a live singularity indicator, plus static payload torques.

  • Workspace cloud

    Seeded point-cloud sampling of the reachable workspace, coloured by manipulability, with reach and volume estimates.

  • Motion programming

    Waypoint list with PTP, LIN and CIRC moves, work-object frames, tool offsets, speeds, blend radii and dwell times.

  • Velocity profiles

    Trapezoidal, quintic (minimum jerk) and jerk-limited S-curve profiles that respect every joint limit.

  • Timeline & plots

    Play, pause, scrub and change speed; joint position, velocity, acceleration and TCP-speed plots export as PNG and SVG.

  • Collision checking

    Links against boxes, spheres and capsules plus self-collision, with highlighted links, clearance and the first contact on the timeline.

  • Cycle time

    Per-move timing, blend overlaps, dwell times and peak joint velocities as a share of their limits.

  • Program export

    Motion plan CSV/JSON, G-code for gantries, and readable KRL-like and RAPID-like templates for a programmer to finish.

Templates

Start from a ready-made project and change it to fit.

  • SCARA pick & place

    A 4-axis SCARA picks parts from a conveyor and places them in a tray, with blended approach moves and short dwell times for the gripper.

    Open in app: SCARA pick & place →

  • Arc-welding seam (6-axis)

    A generic 6R industrial arm follows a weld seam on a fixture: linear moves along the edges and a circular arc around a corner, defined in a work-object frame.

    Open in app: Arc-welding seam (6-axis) →

  • Cobot machine tending

    A UR-style collaborative arm takes a blank from a fixture and loads it into a machine through the door opening; blended moves keep the cycle short.

    Open in app: Cobot machine tending →

  • Gantry engraving (G-code)

    A 3-axis gantry engraves a rounded rectangle into a stock plate. Export the program as G-code (G0/G1/G2/G3).

    Open in app: Gantry engraving (G-code) →

  • Teaching arm: FK, IK and singularities

    A 2-link planar arm for learning: jog the joints, watch the two IK solutions (elbow up/down) and see manipulability drop to zero when the arm is stretched.

    Open in app: Teaching arm: FK, IK and singularities →

  • PUMA 560 textbook poses

    The classic PUMA 560 with the textbook DH table: move between the named poses qz, qr (ready), qs (stretched) and qn (nominal table-top picking pose) and compare FK with the literature.

    Open in app: PUMA 560 textbook poses →

For AI agents

Kinetica runs on a deterministic engine. The same functions are available as tools with a JSON API and MCP, so scripts and AI agents get exactly the results the app shows.

  • Kinetica Forward Kinematics – DH table or URDF + joint values → TCP pose, every joint frame, Jacobian and manipulability.
    Tool page · POST https://kinetica.usefulweb.site/api/v1/tools/kinetica-forward-kinematics/calculate · MCP kinetica_forward_kinematics
  • Kinetica Inverse Kinematics – Target TCP pose → all joint solutions found, residuals, joint limits and reachability.
    Tool page · POST https://kinetica.usefulweb.site/api/v1/tools/kinetica-inverse-kinematics/calculate · MCP kinetica_inverse_kinematics
  • Kinetica Trajectory Planner – Waypoints (PTP, LIN, CIRC) + limits → timed joint samples, cycle time and peak velocities.
    Tool page · POST https://kinetica.usefulweb.site/api/v1/tools/kinetica-trajectory-planner/calculate · MCP kinetica_trajectory_planner
  • Kinetica Collision Check – Robot pose + obstacles → collisions, minimum clearance and self-collision between links.
    Tool page · POST https://kinetica.usefulweb.site/api/v1/tools/kinetica-collision-check/calculate · MCP kinetica_collision_check

Build a project through the API, then open it in the app with a link to https://kinetica.usefulweb.site/app#project=<base64url JSON>.

Import & export

Import

  • Kinetica project (.kinetica.json)
  • URDF subset (.urdf, .xml)
  • Robot JSON (.json)

Export

  • Kinetica project (.kinetica.json)
  • Motion plan CSV
  • Motion plan JSON
  • G-code (.nc / .gcode)
  • KRL-like template (.src)
  • RAPID-like template (.mod)
  • URDF (.urdf)
  • PNG (viewport, plots)
  • SVG (plots)
  • Print view

Keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts in Kinetica
KeysAction
SpacePlay / pause the timeline
Home / EndJump to start / end of the program
← / →Step the timeline (Shift = 1 s)
Ctrl + Z / Ctrl + Shift + ZUndo / redo
Ctrl + SSave project file
Ctrl + OOpen project file
Ctrl + NNew project
Ctrl + C / Ctrl + V / Ctrl + DCopy / paste / duplicate the selected waypoint or obstacle
DeleteDelete the selection
WAdd a waypoint at the current pose
GToggle the TCP gizmo
FFit the view to the cell
1 / 3 / 7 / 0Front / side / top / isometric view
XToggle wireframe
?Show all keyboard shortcuts

Frequently asked questions

Is Kinetica really free and does it upload my robot cell?

Yes, it is free, and everything runs in your browser. Projects autosave to your browser’s storage (IndexedDB) and are only sent anywhere if you download or share the file yourself.

Can I run the exported KRL or RAPID program on my robot?

Not as is. The KRL-like and RAPID-like files are clearly labelled templates: they carry your targets, speeds and zones in a readable form, but tool/base data, configuration (S/T or confdata) and safety settings must be set and verified by a programmer on the real controller.

How accurate is the cycle time?

It is a kinematic estimate: every move respects the joint velocity and acceleration limits you enter. Real controllers add dynamics limits, look-ahead and servo lag, so expect real cycle times to differ by several percent.

Which robots can I model?

Any serial chain of up to 12 revolute or prismatic joints, described by a standard or modified DH table or URDF-style joint origins. Parallel robots (delta, hexapod) are not supported yet.

What happens near a singularity?

The status bar shows the singularity indicator (σmin/σmax). IK uses damped least squares, which stays stable but slows down; LIN moves that would need excessive joint speeds are slowed automatically and flagged.

Can AI agents use Kinetica?

Yes. Forward kinematics, inverse kinematics, trajectory planning and collision checking are available as API and MCP tools, and an agent can build a .kinetica.json project that you open in the app with one click.

Limitations

What Kinetica does not do (yet):

  • Kinematic simulation only: no rigid-body dynamics, motor torque limits, friction or servo lag.
  • Serial chains only (up to 12 joints); delta and other parallel robots are not supported.
  • URDF: meshes are skipped (use boxes, cylinders and spheres), only one serial chain is imported, mimic joints and transmissions are ignored.
  • Collision geometry is a capsule/box envelope; cylinders are approximated by capsules or equal-area prisms.
  • Blending superposes neighbouring moves in joint space; the blended path is close to, but not exactly, a circular arc.
  • KRL-like and RAPID-like exports are templates for a programmer, not validated controller programs.
  • Phones get a simplified view; editing is designed for desktop and tablet.

Tutorials

Learn Kinetica step by step.

  1. Your first robot program in 5 minutesOpen a template, play the motion, change a waypoint and save the project — a quick tour of the Kinetica workspace.Beginner 5 min
  2. Jog, teach and inverse kinematicsMove the robot with joint sliders and the TCP gizmo, teach waypoints, compare IK solutions and spot singularities.Beginner 10 min
  3. Paths, velocity profiles and blendingCombine PTP, LIN and CIRC moves, choose trapezoidal, quintic or S-curve profiles, round corners with blend radii and read the plots.Intermediate 12 min
  4. Collision checking and cell layoutAdd obstacles and work objects, find collisions along the whole path and fix them by moving waypoints or obstacles.Intermediate 10 min
  5. Custom robots: DH tables, URDF, tools and payloadDescribe your own robot with standard or modified DH parameters or URDF joint origins, set limits, geometry, tool and payload, and import or export URDF.Advanced 15 min
  6. Export G-code, KRL-like and RAPID-like programsExport motion plans as CSV/JSON, gantry programs as G-code, and readable KRL-like and RAPID-like templates for a robot programmer.Intermediate 8 min
  7. Automate with the API / MCPCall Kinetica's forward kinematics, inverse kinematics, trajectory planner and collision check over HTTP or MCP, with real request and response examples.Advanced 12 min

Ready to try it?

Launch Kinetica →

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