EE-381 Robotics-1

UG ELECTIVE

Lecture 4
Dr. Hafsa Iqbal
Department of Electrical Engineering,
School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science,
National University of Sciences and Technology,
Pakistan
Robotic Manipulators

• A robotic manipulator is a kinematic chain

• i.e. an assembly of pairs of rigid bodies that can move with
respect to one another via a mechanical constraint

• The rigid bodies are called links

• The mechanical constraints are called joints
• Each joint has 1 −DOF, either translational (a sliding or
prismatic joint) or rotational (a revolute joint)

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Robotic Manipulators

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Joints

• Joints: Rotary (Revolute), Linear (Prismatic)

• Our convention: joint j connects link 𝑗 − 1 to link 𝑗

• When joint 𝑗 is actuated, link 𝑗 moves

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Robotic Joints
Prismatic Joint: allows a linear relative motion along a
fixed axis between two links.
• Represented with P
• Example: Piston

link 𝑗 − 1 𝑗
2D
link 𝑗 𝑧𝑗

3D
Axis of translation is z-axis by convention
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Robotic Joints
Revolute Joint: is like a hinge and allows relative rotation
about a fixed axis between two links
• Represented with R
• Like a Hinge
link 𝑗 − 1 𝜃𝑗 link 𝑗

2D
𝜃𝑗

3D
Axis of rotation is z-axis by convention
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Joint variables
• Revolute and prismatic joints are one degree of freedom
(DOF) joints; thus, they can be described using a single
numeric value called a joint variable
• 𝑞𝑗 → joint variable for joint 𝑗
• Prismatic
• 𝑞𝑗 = 𝑑𝑗 → displacement of link 𝑗 relative to link 𝑗 − 1

• Revolute
• 𝑞𝑗 = 𝜃𝑗 → angle of rotation of link 𝑗 relative to link 𝑗 − 1

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Manipulator Arrangements
• Most industrial manipulators have six or fewer joints
• the first three joints are the arm
• the remaining joints are the wrist
• it is common to describe such manipulators using the
joints of the arm
• R: revolute joint
• P: prismatic joint

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Robot Arm
• Manipulator
• A serial-link manipulator, comprises a chain of rigid links and
joints.
• Each joint has one degree of freedom, either translational (a
sliding or prismatic joint) or rotational (a revolute joint)
• One end of the chain, the base, is generally fixed and the
other end is free to move in space and holds the tool or
end-effector that does the useful work.

End-Effector will be a complex

function of the state of each joint

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Kinematics
• Kinematics is the branch of mechanics that studies the
motion of a body or a system of bodies

• Concerned with position (and angles) and velocities

(translational and angular)

• Not concerned with force or moments. Such a study is a

part of Dynamics.

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Robot Kinematics
Two kinematic problems in Robotics

• Forward Kinematics: Given joint angles,

we can find the robot’s tool tip.

• Inverse Kinematics: Given the pose of

robot tool tip, we find the required joint
angles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91q-__jTH1U

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Goals
• Forward Kinematics: How to compute the pose of the
end-effector?

• Inverse Kinematics: How to compute the position of

each joint given the end-effector pose?

• How to generate smooth paths/trajectories for the end-

effector?

• How to compute the Denavit Hartenberg (DH)

parameters?
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Forward Kinematics-Single Joint
• Consider the simple robot arm, which has a single
rotational joint.

• We can describe the pose of its end-effector–frame {E} –

by a sequence of relative poses: a rotation about the joint
axis and then a translation by 𝑎1 along the rotated x-axis

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Forward Kinematics−2 Joint
𝐸 = 𝑅 𝑞1 𝑇𝑥 𝑎1 𝑅 𝑞2 𝑇𝑥 𝑎2

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Forward Kinematics−2 Joint
• The gray frame is result of
𝑬 = 𝑹 𝑞1 𝑻𝑥 𝑎1 𝑹 𝑞2 𝑻𝑥 𝑎2
cos 𝑞1 + 𝑞2 − sin 𝑞1 + 𝑞2 𝑎2 cos 𝑞1 + 𝑞2 + 𝑎1 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑞1
𝑬 = sin 𝑞1 + 𝑞2 cos 𝑞1 + 𝑞2 𝑎2 sin 𝑞1 + 𝑞2 + 𝑎1 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑞1
0 0 1
ξ𝑥 𝑎2 cos 𝑞1 + 𝑞2 + 𝑎1 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑞1
=
ξ𝑦 𝑎2 sin 𝑞1 + 𝑞2 + 𝑎1 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑞1

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Forward Kinematics−2 Joint
• Configurations are not unique

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Forward Kinematics−3 Joint

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Forward Kinematics−3𝐷
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m1oKuFkSTE

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Forward Kinematics−3𝐷
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwTRbiUEVPk

4 joints

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Forward Kinematics-General Purpose 3D Robot

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Spaces

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Configuration Space
• Robot configuration is described by a vector of
generalized coordinates
• Coordinate is
• Angle in case of revolute joints
• Length in case of prismatic joints Number of joints

𝒒 = 𝑞𝑗 , 𝑗 ∈ 1 … 𝑁 ∈𝒞
Joint configuration 𝒞 ⊂ ℝ𝑁
Joint coordinate Space of all possible
configurations

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Task Space
• The space of all possible end-effector poses

Space of all possible

end-effector poses
• In 2D

• In 3D

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Dimensions
• Robots degree of freedom (number of joints)
• Task space degrees of freedom

• To reach all of the task space

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Examples

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3-DOF arm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zVfldaE0Bs

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4-DOF arm

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4-DOF arm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zudMHcIxiw8

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4-DOF arm

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4-DOF arm

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6-DOF arm

𝕊 3

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Very high DOF Robot

Type equation here.

n

𝕊 3

Redundant robot

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Configuration String

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Summary

• Links?
• Joints?
• Dimensions of configuration space?
• DOF?
• Configuration string?
• End-effectors’ position?
• Dimensions of task space?

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