KUKA LBR hand learning/teaching

Well, you need the space mouse, preferably wireless one. then get SDK for it (also there is Connexion forum for support). this will allow reading mouse values.

Then you need to send the values to robot. this can be done through RS232 for example or EthernetKRL or KukaOPC or similar.

The next milestone is to get robot move based on mouse input and record current robot position when button is pressed.

Finally you need program to play back those recorded positions. which part you have problem with exactly.

well.... there are different ways to get something done, but - there are ways.

and if YOU are doing something, you need to find out one that works for you, based on resources at your disposal....

you can develop application that uses SDK to access the mouse and get it's state regardless of used mouse interface (USB or not). if the robot controller you have supports USB, then this USB dongle can be connected directly to a robot controller. otherwise you can plug the USB dongle to a machine that has working USB and can run your application using SDK from 3DConnexion. It is not set in stone that device reading mouse feedback must be a robot controller itself - it could be some other intermediate device. But getting data from mouse into something you control is just one of milestones. When you get the data from mouse, you can display it or do whatever else you want with it but first - you need to get the data.

Then you need to find a way to transfer this data somehow to a robot controller so the values can be used in robot programs. How exactly is again designers choice. It could also be streams of data from your application (where ever it is installed) through some suitable interface to a robot.... using ANY means you can use. RS232 was mentioned as just one of conveniences readily available on KRC2 since it is already there and it is rather easy to use. But it does not have to that path.... If wanted, you can of course use Ethernet, DeviceNet, ProfiBus, laser beams, Morse code, gravitational waves, bat ultrasounds or whatever else you choose.

And once you finally get the values inside the robot controller, you can write robot program to react to those values.

Modular design is to break tasks into smaller, easier to manage steps and solve them one at a time. Some approaches are more efficient than others. This is important if you want to market the product. If you are just making one off, optimising for efficiency may not be reasonable approach, using workarounds and additional steps (like adding intermediate stages) is reasonable.

Can this be done without SDK, using some MCU or whatever? Sure if you know how.

But SDK (Software Development Kit) makes this task dramatically easier. (and it still could be complex task). Doung things yourself from scratch without SDK requires considerable effort.

Can you make use of the wireless space mouse without included USB dongle? Sure if you know how.

But that dongle sure makes things easier. Otherwise you would have to develop something with equivalent functionality. But if you do, you may deem USB not needed, perhaps this could be something on ISA or PCI card (just an example). But this means significantly higher effort is needed and that need to be justified somehow.

Personally i choose path of least resistance. So I would use that product as is - with supplied USB dongle.