Assignment 2 : Week 2 Solution

If not explained all symbols have same meaning as in the lectures

You can find the codes for Q5 and Q6 at this link:
https://github.com/roboticslabiisc/NPTEL-Robotics-Basics-and-Selected-Advanced-Concepts

1. For the following rotation matrix (2 marks)

 
2/3 −1/3 2/3
A
B [R] =  2/3 2/3 −1/3
−1/3 2/3 2/3

The angle of rotation about the axis vector is .................. degrees

Answer : 60
Using the formula for φ given in slide 8,
r11 + r22 + r33 − 1
 
−1
φ = cos
2

2/3 + 2/3 + 2/3 − 1

   
1
∴ φ = cos−1 = cos−1 = 60 degrees
2 2

2. For Z − Y − X Euler rotations with θ1 , θ2 , θ3 being rotation angles about X, Y and Z axis, respectively and
rij , i, j = 1, 2, 3 denoting the elements of resultant rotation matrix (3 marks)

(A) r12 2 + r13 2 is a function of (θ2 + θ3 ) and (θ2 − θ3 ).

(B) r22 2 + r23 2 is a function of θ2 and θ3 .
(C) r12 2 + r22 2 is a function of θ1 and θ3 .
(D) θ2 = Atan2(r31 , r21 / cos θ2 ).

Answer : (A) and (B)

The final rotation matrix R = R1 R2 R3 , where,
 
cos (θ3 ) − sin (θ3 ) 0
R1 =  sin (θ3 ) cos (θ3 ) 0 
0 0 1
 
cos (θ2 ) 0 sin (θ2 )
R2 =  0 1 0 
− sin (θ2 ) 0 cos (θ2 )
 
1 0 0
R3 =  0 cos (θ1 ) − sin (θ1 ) 
0 sin (θ1 ) cos (θ1 )
 
c3 c2 c3 s2 s1 − s3 c1 c3 s2 c1 + s3 s1
∴ R =  s3 c2 s3 s2 s1 + c3 c1 s3 s2 c1 − c3 s1 
−s2 c2 s1 c2 c1
2
r12 2 + r13 2 = 1 − c23 c22 = 1 − (1/2 cos (θ2 + θ3 ) + 1/2 cos (θ2 − θ3 ))
 
2 2
r22 2 + r23 2 = 1 + (cos (θ3 )) − 1 (cos (θ2 ))
 
2 2
r12 2 + r22 2 = 1 + (cos (θ1 )) − 1 (cos (θ2 ))
θ2 = Atan2(−r31 , r21 / sin θ3 )

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3. if A
B [R] denotes a rotation matrix with k̂ denoting its axis and φ the corresponding angle of rotation, then (2
marks)

(A) e[K]φ = A
B [R].
A
(B) B [R](u × v) = (A A 3
B [R] v) × (B [R] u) ∀ u, v ∈ R .
A
(C) B [R] = I + [K] sin φ + (1 − cos φ)[K]2 , where I is the identity matrix.
A
(D) B [R] = I + [K]2 sin φ + (1 − cos φ)[K], where I is the identity matrix.

where [K] is the skew-symmetric matrix obtained from the elements of k̂.
Answer : (A) and (C)
e[K]φ = A
B [R] = I + [K] sin φ + (1 − cos φ)[K]2 , where I is the identity matrix.
This is called the Rodrigues’ rotation formula and is same as the eqn 4 in slide 9.
A
and B [R](u × v) = (A A
B [R] u) × (B [R] v) ∀ u, v ∈ R
3

4. Which of the following representation of orientation suffer from Gimbal Lock (2 marks)
(A) Rotation matrix.
(B) Quaternions.
(C) Euler parameters.
(D) Euler angles.
Answer: (D)

5. Two successive transformations are applied to a rigid body: (3 marks)

T T
(i) Rotation about vector [1, 2, 3] by π/3 rads, followed by a translation by [1, 1, 0] and,
(ii) Rotation about [1, 1, 1]T by π/4 rads, followed by a translation by [1, 2, 3]T
(Note the order of transformation is (i) before (ii))
Which of the following represents the final homogeneous transformation matrix of the resultant motion
 
−0.0611 −0.3793 0.9232 2.0000
 0.9468 0.2708 0.1739 3.0000 
(A) 
 −0.3160 0.8848 0.3426 3.0000 


0 0 0 1
 
0.0133 −0.4755 0.8796 1.4941
 0.9978 0.0637 0.0194 3.3106 
(B) 
 −0.0653 0.8774 0.4753 3.1953 


0 0 0 1
 
−0.0116 −0.2989 0.9542 2.0000
 0.9542 0.2820 0.1000 3.0000 
(C) 
 −0.2989 0.9117 0.2820 3.0000 


0 0 0 1
 
0.0723 −0.4040 0.9119 1.3333
 0.9963 0.0723 −0.0470 3.3333 
(D) 
 −0.0470 0.9119

0.4077 3.3333 
0 0 0 1

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 Answer : (A)
 
R1 (k̂1 , φ1 ) t1
T1 = , R1 = rotation about k̂1 = V1 /||V1 || by φ1 = π/3 rads, t1 = [1, 1, 0]T
000 1
 
R2 (k̂2 , φ2 ) t2
T2 = , R2 = rotation about k̂2 = V2 /||V2 || by φ1 = π/4 rads, t2 = [1, 2, 3]T
000 1
R(k̂, φ) = I + [K] sin φ + (1 − cos φ)[K]2 , where I is the identity matrix. (This equation is same as in the previous
question and eqn 4 from slide 9)
   
0.5357 −0.6227 0.5700 1.0 0.8046 −0.3106 0.5058 1.0
 0.7655 0.6429 −0.0171 1.0  , T =  0.5058
 0.8046 −0.3106 2.0 
T1 = 
0.8214 0.0  2  −0.3106 0.5058

 −0.3558 0.4457 0.8046 3.0 
0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0
 
−0.0609 −0.3791 0.9230 2.0
 0.9464 0.2709 0.1740 3.0 
T = T1 T2 =   −0.3160 0.8846 0.3426 3.0 


0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0

For the MATLAB code, visit the GitHub link provided at the beginning of the document.

6. For the consecutive rotations first about global X-axis by π/3 and then about global Y -axis by π/4 and finally
about global Z-axis by π/6, the r21 term of the resultant rotation matrix is (3 marks)
Answer: 0.3536
Note : Here the rotations are space fixed. So we need to find the rotation matrices using the axis angle formula in
eqn 4, slide 9 or the formula in the previous question.
R1 is simple rotation about X-axis by π/3.
 
1.0 0.0 0.0
R1 = R([1, 0, 0]T , π/3) =  0.0 0.5000 −0.8660 
0.0 0.8660 0.5000
R2 is rotation about global Y-axis by π/4. – So here the axis needs to be found out in the new coordinate system.
The axis will be k̂2 = R1−1 [0, 1, 0]T
 
0.7070 0.6122 0.3535
R2 = R([0, 0.5, −0.866]T , π/4) =  −0.6122 0.7802 −0.1269 
−0.3535 −0.1269 0.9268
R3 is rotation about global Z-axis by π/6. – So here the axis needs to be found out in the new coordinate system.
The axis will be k̂3 = (R1 R2 )−1 [0, 0, 1]T
 
0.9330 −0.2348 0.2726
R2 = R([−0.707, 0.612, 0.353]T , π/6) =  0.1188 0.9162 0.3825 
−0.3396 −0.3245 0.8828
 
0.6122 0.2803 0.7390
R = R1 R2 R3 =  0.3535 0.7391 −0.5732 
−0.7068 0.6121 0.3534
For the MATLAB code, visit the GitHub link provided at the beginning of the document.

7. A rotary joint connects two rigid bodies in 3D space. Which of the following is true (1 marks)

(A) The rotary joint allows one relative degree of freedom between the two connected rigid bodies.
(B) The system of two rigid bodies have one degree of freedom.
(C) The system of two rigid bodies have six degrees of freedom.
(D) The system of two rigid bodies have 7 degrees of freedom.

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 Answer: (A) and (D)
A rotary joint connects two rigid bodies in 3D space. So there will be only one degrees of freedom in between them.
And the total degrees of freedom is 7 (6 for the Body 1 + 1 for the Body 2).

8. An S-S pair in a loop gives rise to (1 marks)

(A) One constraint equation.
(B) Three constraint equations.
(C) Five constraint equations
(D) No constraint equations.
Answer: (A)
An S-S pair gives rise to only one constraint equation. (Slide 33)

9. In the Denavit-Hartenberg convention used in this course (1 marks)

(A) Coordinate system {i} is attached to the link i.
(B) Coordinate system {i} is attached to the link i − 1.
(C) Origin of {i} lies on the joint axis i.
(D) Origin of {i} lies on the joint axis i − 1.
Answer: (A) and (C)

10. In the Denavit-Hartenberg convention used in this course, link offset di (1 marks)

(A) is measured along joint Ẑi from joint X̂i−1 to joint X̂i .
(B) is always positive
(C) is always constant if joint i is rotary.
(D) is always constant if joint i is prismatic.
Answer: (A) and (C)

11. For the RRR serial manipulator shown in Figure 1, the Denavit-Hartenberg (D-H) table (2 marks)
(A) will contain l1 .
(B) will contain l5 .
(C) is given by
i αi−1 ai−1 di θi
1 0 0 0 θ1
2 0 l2 0 θ2
3 π/2 l3 l4 θ3
(D) is given by
i αi−1 ai−1 di θi
1 0 l1 0 θ1
2 0 l2 0 θ2
3 π/2 l3 l4 θ3

Answer : (C)

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 Figure 1: A RRR manipulator

12. Figure 2 shows the 3-RPS parallel manipulator discussed in lectures. The location of the R joint is b units from the
origin of the {Base} along the X̂ as shown in Figure 2. The transformation matrix Base
S1 [T ]is given by (3 marks)
 
cos θ1 0 − sin θ1b − l1 sin θ1
 sin θ1 1 cos θ1 l1 cos θ1 
Base

(A) S1 [T ] =  0

−1 0 0 
0 0 0 1
 
sin θ1 0 − cos θ1 b − l1 cos θ1
 0 1 0 0
Base
 
(B) S1 [T ] = cos θ

1 0 sin θ1 l1 sin θ1 
0 0 0 1
 
cos θ1 0 − sin θ1 b − l1 sin θ1
 0 1 0 0
Base
 
(C) S1 [T ] =  sin θ

1 0 cos θ1 l1 cos θ1 
0 0 0 1
 
sin θ1 0 − cos θ1 −l1 sin θ1
Base
cos θ1 1 sin θ1 l1 cos θ1 
(D) S1 [T ] =  0
 
−1 0 0 
0 0 0 1

Answer : (B)
The D-H table for the 3-RPS parallel manipulator is given by:

i αi−1 ai−1 di θi
1 0 0 0 φ1
2 −π/2 0 l1 0

where, φ1 = π/2 − θ1

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 p(x, y, z) Moving Platform
Ẑ

S3 S2

S1 l2

l3 θ2
l1
Axis of R2
θ3 {Base}

Ŷ

θ1

Base Platform
Axis of R3

Axis of R1
X̂

Figure 2: A three DOF parallel manipulator

Base
S1 [T ] =Base
0 [T ] 01 [T ] 1S1 [T ]
   
1 0 0 b sin (θ1 ) − cos (θ1 ) 0 0 1 0 0 0
Base
 0 0 −1 0   cos (θ1 ) sin (θ1 ) 0 0   0 0 1 l1 
S1 [T ] =  0 1
   
0 0  0 0 1 0  0 −1 0 0 
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
 
sin (θ1 ) 0 − cos (θ1 ) b − cos (θ1 ) l1
Base
 0 1 0 0 
S1 [T ] =  cos (θ ) 0
 
1 sin (θ1 ) sin (θ1 ) l1 
0 0 0 1
Base
Note: 0 [T ] = Rotation about X-axis by π/2 + translation by [1, 0, 0]T