Sarcos Sapien 6M Digital Twin

During my Summer 2024 internship at JLG Industries, I developed a digital twin of the Sarcos Sapien 6M robotic manipulator to support simulation, algorithm development, and real-world deployment. Using access to the system’s CAD models, I derived the kinematic frame relationships between the manipulator’s rigid bodies and constructed the robot model using Denavit–Hartenberg conventions.

The project had two primary objectives: first, to create a high-fidelity simulation environment for testing robotic algorithms, and second, to validate those algorithms on the physical robot. The initial application focused on autonomous tool-changing operations. Over the course of a 10-week internship, I designed and implemented both analytical and numerical inverse kinematics controllers, integrating them into the simulation and deployment pipeline.

The developed algorithms were successfully tested on a physical Sarcos Sapien 6M platform, where the robot completed tool-change operations that had first been validated in simulation. This work represented an early technical milestone in the broader robotics initiative at JLG Industries, which later contributed to a system that received a CES Innovation Awards recognition in 2026 for the Oshkosh JLG Boom Lift with Robotic End Effector.