Chapter 3

manipulator kinematics
link description:
A manipulator may be thought of as a set of bodies connected in a chain by
joints. These bodies are called links. Joints form a connection between a
neighboring pair of links.

Most manipulators have revolute joints or have sliding joints called

prismatic joints. In the rare case that a mechanism is built with a joint
having n degrees of freedom, it can be modeled as n joints of one degree of
freedom connected with n 1 links of zero length.

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figure 3.1: The six possible lower-pair joints.

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a link is considered only as a rigid body that defines the relationship
between two neighboring joint axes of a manipulator.
Joint axis i is defined by a line in space, or a vector direction, about
which link i rotates relative to link i 1.
Figure 3.2 shows link i 1 and the mutually perpendicular line along which
the link length, is measured.
The second parameter needed to define the relative location of the two
axes is called the link twist. i 1 is indicated as the angle between axis i 1
and axis i

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figure 3.2: The kinematic function of a link is to maintain a fixed relationship

between the two joint axes it supports. This relationship can be described with two
parameters: the link length, a , and the link twist, .
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link-connection description
Intermediate links in the chain:
Neighboring links have a common joint axis between them. One parameter
of interconnection has to do with the distance along this common axis from
one link to the next. This parameter is called the link offset. The offset at
joint axis i is called d i
The second parameter describes the amount of rotation about this common
axis between one link and its neighbor. This is called the joint angle, i
Figure 3.4 shows the interconnection of link i - 1 and link i. Recall that ai 1 is
the mutual perpendicular between the two axes of link i 1. Likewise, ai is the
mutual perpendicular defined for link i.
The first parameter of interconnection is the link offset, which is the signed
distance measured along the axis of joint i from the point where ai 1
intersects the axis to the point where ai intersects the axis.

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figure 3.4: The link offset, d, and the joint angle, , are two parameters that may be
used to describe the nature of the connection between neighboring links.
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The second parameter of interconnection is the angle made between an
extension of ai 1 and ai measured about the axis of joint i.

The link offset d i is variable if joint i is prismatic, and The parameter i is

variable for a revolute joint.
Link parameters:
In the usual case of a revolute joint, i is called the joint variable, and the
other three quantities would be fixed link parameters. For prismatic joints, d i
is the joint variable, and the other three quantities are fixed link parameters.
The definition of mechanisms by means of these quantities is a convention
usually called the DenavitHartenberg (DH) notation

For a six-jointed robot, 18 numbers would be required to describe the fixed

portion of its kinematics completely.
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convention for affixing frames to links:
The convention we will use to locate frames on the links is as follows:
The Z axis of frame {i}, called Z i , is coincident with the joint axis i. The
origin of frame {i} is located where the ai perpendicular intersects the joint i
axis. X i points along ai in the direction from joint i to joint i + 1. Yi is formed
by the right-hand rule to complete the ith frame.
First and last links in the chain:
We attach a frame to the base of the robot, or link 0, called frame {0}. This
frame does not move; for the problem of arm kinematics, it can be considered
the reference frame.
Frame {0} is arbitrary, so it always simplifies matters to choose Z 0 along axis
1 and to locate frame {0} so that it coincides with frame {1} when joint
variable 1 is zero. Using this convention, we will always have
Additionally, this ensures that d1 0 if joint 1 is revolute, or 1 0 if joint 1 is
prismatic.
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figure 3.5: Link frames are attached so that frame {i} is attached rigidly to link i.
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If the link frames have been attached to the links according to our
convention, the following definitions of the link parameters are valid:

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Summary of link-frame attachment procedure:

1. Identify the joint axes and imagine (or draw) infinite lines along them.
steps 2 through 5 below, consider two of these neighboring lines (at axes i
and i + 1).
2. Identify the common perpendicular between them, or point of
intersection. At the point of intersection, or at the point where the
common perpendicular meets the ith axis, assign the link-frame origin.
3. Assign the axis pointing along the ith joint axis.
4. Assign the X i axis pointing along the common perpendicular, or, if the
axes intersect, assign X i to be normal to the plane containing the two axes.
5. Assign the Yi axis to complete a right-hand coordinate system.
6. Assign {0} to match {1} when the first joint variable is zero. For {N},
choose an origin location and X N direction freely, but generally so as to
cause as many linkage parameters as possible to become zero.
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Example:

Figure 3.6(a) shows a three-link planar arm. Because all three joints are
revolute, this manipulator is sometimes called an RRR (or 3R) mechanism.
Fig. 3.6(b) is a schematic representation of the same manipulator. Note the
double hash marks indicated on each of the three axes, which indicate that
these axes are parallel. Assign link frames to the mechanism and give the
DenavitHartenberg (DH) parameters.
We start by defining the reference frame, frame {O}. It is fixed to the base and
aligns with frame {i} when the first joint variable 1 is zero. Therefore, we
position frame {O} as shown in Fig. 3.7 with Z 0 aligned with the joint-i axis.

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figure 3.6: A three-link planar arm. On the right, we show the same
manipulator by means of a simple schematic notation. Hash marks on the axes
indicate that they are mutually parallel.
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figure 3.7: Link-frame

assignments.

figure 3.8: Link parameters of the threelink planar manipulator.

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Example:
Figure 3.9(a) shows a robot having three degrees of freedom and one
prismatic joint. This manipulator can be called an "RPR mechanism," in a
notation that specifies the type and order of the joints. It is a "cylindrical"
robot whose first two joints are analogous to polar coordinates when viewed
from above. The last joint (joint 3) provides "roll" for the hand. Figure 3.9(b)
shows the same manipulator in schematic form. Note the symbol used to
represent prismatic joints, and note that a "dot" is used to indicate the point
at which two adjacent axes intersect. Also, the fact that axes 1 and 2 are
orthogonal has been indicated.

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figure 3.9: Manipulator having three degrees of freedom and one prismatic joint.

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figure 3.10: Link-frame assignments.

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figure 3.11: Link parameters for the RPR manipulator

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Example:

Figure 3.12(a) shows a three-link, 3R manipulator for which joint axes 1 and
2 intersect and axes 2 and 3 are parallel. Figure 3.12(b) shows the kinematic
schematic of the manipulator. Note that the schematic includes annotations
indicating that the first two axes are orthogonal and that the last two are
parallel.
Demonstrate the non uniqueness of frame assignments and of the
DenavitHartenberg parameters by showing several possible correct
assignments of frames (1}and{2}.

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figure 3.12: Three-link, non planar manipulator.

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figure 3.13: Two possible frame assignments.

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figure 3.14: Two more possible frame assignments.

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manipulator kinematics:
In this section, we derive the general form of the transformation that relates
the frames attached to neighboring links. We then concatenate these individual
transformations to solve for the position and orientation of link n relative to
link 0.
Derivation of link transformations:
We wish to construct the transform that defines frame {i } relative to the
frame {i 1}. In general, this transformation will be a function of the four
link parameters. For any given robot, this transformation will be a function
of only one variable, the other three parameters being fixed by mechanical
design. By defining a frame for each link, we have broken the kinematics
problem into a sub problems.

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figure 3.15: Location of intermediate frames {P}, {Q}, and {R}.

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or

where

Considering each of these transformations, we see that (3.3) may be written

or

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where the notation screwQ (r , ) stands for the combination of a translation
along an axis Q by a distance r and a rotation about the same axis by an
angle Multiplying out (3.4), we obtain the general form of i 1iT

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Example:
Using the link parameters shown in Fig. 3.11 for the robot of Fig. 3.9,
compute the individual transformations for each link. Substituting the
parameters into (3.6), we obtain

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Concatenating link transformations:
Once the link frames have been defined and the corresponding link
parameters found, developing the kinematic equations is straightforward.
From the values of the link parameters, the individual link-transformation
matrices can be computed. Then, the link transformations can be multiplied
together to find the single transformation that relates frame [N} to frame
{0}:

This transformation, N0T , will be a function of all i th joint variables. If

the robot's joint-position sensors are queried, the Cartesian position and
orientation of the last link can be computed by N0T
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actuator space, joint space, and cartesian space:
there are three representations of a manipulator's position and orientation:
descriptions in actuator space, in joint space, and in Cartesian space

figure 3.16: Mappings between kinematic descriptions.

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Inverse manipulator kinematics:
given the joint angles of the manipulator, how do we compute the position and
orientation of the tool relative to the user's workstation?
Forward kinematics
Given the desired position and orientation of the tool relative to the
station, how do we compute the set of joint angles which will achieve this
desired result?

inverse kinematics
The question of whether any solution exists at all raises the question of the
manipulator's workspace.
workspace is that volume of space that the end-effector of the manipulator
can reach. For a solution to exist, the specified goal point must lie within the
workspace.
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Dexterous workspace is that volume of space that the robot end-effector
can reach with all orientations. That is, at each point in the dextrous
workspace, the end-effector can be arbitrarily oriented.
The reachable workspace is that volume of space that the robot can reach
in at least one orientation.

Consider the workspace of the two-link manipulator in Fig. 4.1.

If l1 l 2 , then the reachable workspace consists of a disc of radius 2l
The dexterous workspace consists of only a single point, the origin.
If l1 l2 , then there is no dexterous workspace, and the reachable
workspace becomes a ring of outer radius l1 l2 and inner radius l1 l2 .
Inside the reachable workspace there are two possible orientations of the
end-effector.

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figure 3.17: Two-link manipulator with link lengths l1 and l2 .

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Another possible problem encountered in solving kinematic equations is that
of multiple solutions.

Figure 3.18: Three-link manipulator. Dashed lines indicate a second

solution.

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The fact that a manipulator has multiple solutions can cause problems,
because the system has to be able to choose one. The criteria upon which to
base a decision vary, but a very reasonable choice would be the closest
solution.

Figure 19: One of the two possible solutions to reach point B causes a
collision.
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Algebraic solution
Geometric solution
Closed form solution
Numerical solution

Forward kinematics

inverse kinematics

Assignments:
1. What is the difference between serial type manipulators and parallel
type manipulators.
2. PUMA 560
3. Yasukawa motoman L - 3
4. Scheinman arm
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