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Robotics and automation

Dr. Ibrahim Al-Naimi

Chapter two
Introduction To Robot
Manipulators

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Robotic Industrial Manipulators

• A robot manipulator is an electronically controlled
mechanism, consisting of multiple segments, that
performs tasks by interacting with its environment. They
are also commonly referred to as robotic arms. Robot
manipulators are extensively used in the industrial
manufacturing sector.
• and also have many other specialized applications

Kinematic Chain
• Robotic Manipulators are composed of an
assembly of links and joints. Links are defined as
the rigid sections that make up the mechanism
and joints are defined as the connection between
two links. The device attached to the manipulator
which interacts with its environment to perform
tasks is called the end-effector.
• “Robotic manipulator is a set of links connected
by joints to form a kinematic chain.”

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Kinematic Chain
• Kinematic pair – two links
connected by joint
(mobile connection)

• Kinematic chain of
manipulator is a
combination of a couple
of kinematic pairs

Kinematic Chain

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Type of Joints
• Joints are typically rotary (revolute) or linear
(prismatic).
1- Revolute (R): A revolute joint is like a hinge and
allows relative rotation between two links
2- Prismatic (P): A prismatic joint allows a linear
relative motion between two links.
• Any other joint can represented by some
combination of these two primary joints.
• Spherical joint can be seen as three revolute
joints with zero link lengths.

Type of Joints

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Type of Joints

Type of Joints

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Manipulator Workspace and Degree of

Freedom (DOF)
• The number of degrees of freedom that a manipulator
possesses is the number of independent position
variables that would have to be specified in order to
locate all parts of the mechanism.
• In other words, the number of degrees of freedom is
equal to the total number of independent
displacements or aspects of motion.
• This is a general term used for any mechanism. For
example, a four-bar linkage has only one degree of
freedom (even though there are three moving
members).

Manipulator Workspace and Degree of

Freedom (DOF)
• In the case of typical industrial robots, because a
manipulator is usually an open kinematic chain,
and because each joint position is usually defined
with a single variable, the number of joints equals
the number of degrees of freedom.
• Typically, a manipulator should possess at least six
independent DOF, three for positioning and three
for orientation, to move the end-effector to an
arbitrary position and orientation in three
dimensional space.

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Manipulator Workspace and Degree of

Freedom (DOF)
• With fewer than six DOF, the arm cannot reach
every point in its workspace with arbitrary
orientation. However, The difficulty of controlling
a manipulator increases rapidly with increasing
the number of links.
• Certain applications such as reaching around or
behind (avoid) obstacles require more than six
DOF. A manipulator having more than six links is
referred to as a kinematically redundant
manipulator.

Manipulator Workspace and Degree of

Freedom (DOF)
• Workspace: The workspace of a manipulator is the
total volume swept out by the end-effector as the
manipulator executes all possible motions.
• It can be determined analytically or experimentally
• The workspace is constrained by the geometry of
the manipulator as well as mechanical constraints
on the joints. For example, a revolute joint may be
limited to less than a full 3600 of motion.

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Manipulator Workspace and Degree of

Freedom (DOF)

• The workspace is often broken down into a

reachable workspace and a dextrous workspace.
• The reachable workspace is the entire set of points
reachable by the manipulator, whereas the
dextrous workspace consists of those points that
the manipulator can reach with an arbitrary
orientation of the end effector.
• Obviously, dexterous workspace is a subset of the
reachable workspace.

Manipulator Workspace and Degree of

Freedom (DOF)

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Robot Manipulator Classifications

• Robot manipulators can be classified by several
criteria, such as their power source or way in
which the joints are actuated, their geometry or
kinematic structure, their intended application
area, or their method of control.
• Such classification is useful primarily in order to
determine which robot is right for a given task.
For example, an hydraulic robot would not be
suitable for food handling or clean room
applications.

Robot Manipulator Classifications

• According to power source, the robot manipulators are:
1- Electrically powered: Robots driven by DC- or AC-servo
motors are increasingly popular since they are cheap, clean
and quiet.
2- Hydraulically powered: Hydraulic actuators are unrivalled in
their speed response and torque, and usually used to lift
heavy loads. However, the hydraulic robots tend to leak
hydraulic fluid, require much more peripheral equipment
and maintenance, and they are noisy.
3- pneumatically powered: Pneumatic robots are inexpensive
and simple, but cannot be controlled precisely. As a result,
pneumatic robots are limited in their range of applications
and popularity.

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Robot Manipulator Classifications

• Robot manipulators are classified by control methods
into:
1- Non-servo robots: The earliest robots were non-servo
robots. These robots are essentially open-loop devices
whose movement is limited to predetermined mechanical
stops, and they are useful primarily for materials transfer.
2- Servo robots: Servo robots use closed-loop computer
control to determine their motion and are thus capable of
being truly multifunctional, reprogrammable devices.
Servo controlled robots are further classified according to
the method that the controller uses to guide the end-
effector. The simplest type of robot in this class is the point-
to-point robot.

Robot Manipulator Classifications

Servo robots:
- A point-to-point robot can be taught a discrete set of
points but there is no control on the path of the end-
effector in between taught points. Such robots are usually
taught a series of points with a teach pendant (handheld
device). The points are then stored and played back. Point-
to point robots are severely limited in their range of
applications.
- In continuous path robots, on the other hand, the entire
path of the end-effector can be controlled. For example,
the robot end-effector can be taught to follow a straight
line between two points or even to follow a contour such as
a welding seam. In addition, the velocity and/or
acceleration of the end-effector can often be controlled.

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Robot Manipulator Classifications

• Robot manipulators are classified by the
Kinematic structure into:
1- Serial manipulators: links and joints are
connected to form open kinematic chain
2- Parallel manipulators: links and joints are
connected to form closed kinematic chain
3- Hybrid manipulators: Combining serial and
parallel manipulators.

Robot Manipulator Classifications

• Serial manipulators

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Robot Manipulator Classifications

• Parallel manipulators

Tripod robot consists of three parallel arms

Robot Manipulator Classifications

• Hybrid manipulators

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Serial Manipulators
• Most industrial serial manipulators at the present
time have six or fewer degrees-of-freedom. These
manipulators are usually classified kinematically on
the basis of the first three joints of the arm, with the
wrist being described separately. The majority of
these manipulators fall into one of five geometric
types:
1- Articulate (RRR)
2- Spherical (RRP)
3- SCARA (RRP)
4- Cylindrical (RPP)
5- Cartesian (PPP)

Articulated Manipulators (RRR)

• The articulated manipulator is an industrial robot with
rotary joints and is also called a revolute, or
anthropomorphic manipulator.
• Articulated robots can range from simple two-jointed
structures to systems with 10 or more interacting
joints.
• Three revolute joints; the axes of second and third R
joints are parallel, whereas the axis of first R joint is
vertical.
• Relatively large movement freedom in a compact
space.

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Articulated Manipulators (RRR)

The Motoman SK16 manipulator.

Articulated Manipulators (RRR)

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Spherical (RRP) Manipulator

• If the third R joint in the articulate manipulator is
replaced with a prismatic joint, then the result is
the spherical manipulator. (i.e. It is a robot with
two rotary joints and one prismatic joint).
• The spherical manipulator, also called polar
manipulator, has three mutually perpendicular
axes (has z0, z1, z2 mutually perpendicular).
• The joint variables are the spherical coordinates of
the end-effector with respect to the base.
• Spherical manipulators have lost practicality in the
workplace due to 6 axes articulated manipulators.

Spherical (RRP) Manipulator

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Spherical (RRP) Manipulator

SCARA Manipulator (RRP)

• SCARA is the short for Selective Compliant

Articulated Robot for Assembly.
• It is RRP but the axes are parallel (parallel z0, z1, z2).
• Specially designed for assembly operations.
• The SCARA construction allow for precise work and
quick assembly or packaging.

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SCARA Manipulator (RRP)

SCARA Manipulator (RRP)

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Cylindrical Manipulator (RPP)

• The first joint is revolute and produces a rotation

about the base, whereas the second and third
joints are prismatic.
• The joint variables are the cylindrical coordinates
of the end-effector with respect to the base.
• Its Rigid structure, allows large payloads and good
repeatability.

Cylindrical Manipulator (RPP)

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Cylindrical Manipulator (RPP)

Cartesian Manipulator (PPP)

• Also called rectangular, rectilinear, gantry.
• Robot has the ability to move its gripper to any
position within the cube or cuboid workspace.
• The first three joints are prismatic.
• The joint variables are the Cartesian coordinates of
the end-effector with respect to the base.
• the kinematic description of this manipulator is the
simplest of all configurations
• Useful for transfer of materials, and table-top
assembly.

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Cartesian Manipulator (PPP)

Cartesian Manipulator (PPP)

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Manipulators Primary Vendors

• Kuka (Germany)
• Fanuc (Japan)
• ABB (Sweden, US)
• Panasonic (Japan)
• Sankyo (Japan)
• Mitsubishi (Japan)
• Adept (US)
• Seiko (Japan)
• Motoman (Japan)

Typical Costs: $20,000 - $80,000

Application
• Welding
• Painting
• Surface finishing
• Aerospace and automotive industries
• Assembly operations
• Inspection of parts
• Underwater and space exploration
• Hazardous waste remediation

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Basic Assumptions and Terminology

• A robot manipulator with n joints will have (n + 1)
links. Each joint connects two links.
• We number joints from 1 to n, and links from 0 to
n. So that joint i connects links (i − 1) and i.
• The location of joint i is fixed with respect to the
link (i−1).
• When joint i is actuated, the link i moves. Hence
the link (i-1) is fixed. In addition, link 0 is fixed.

Basic Assumptions and Terminology

• With the ith joint, we associate joint variable qi:

• Joint space (joint vector) is a set of all joint variables

in the manipulator.
• For each link we attach rigidly the coordinate frame
(oi xi yi zi) for the link i. (Using right hand rule).
• When joint i is actuated, the link i and its frame
experience a motion.
• The frame (o0 x0 y0 z0) attached to the base is
referred to as inertia frame (base frame)

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Basic Assumptions and Terminology

To describing locations and orientations in three
dimensions the right handed coordinate system is
used. In addition, the right hand rule is used to
determine the direction of positive rotation around
an axis.

Basic Assumptions and Terminology

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Basic Assumptions and Terminology

• In the study of robotics, we are constantly concerned
with the location of objects in three-dimensional
space. These objects are the links of the manipulator,
the parts and tools with which it deals, and other
objects in the manipulator's environment. These
objects are described by just two attributes: position
and orientation.
• In order to describe the position and orientation of a
body in space, we will always attach a coordinate
system, or frame, rigidly to the object. We then
proceed to describe the position and orientation of
this frame with respect to some reference coordinate
system.

Basic Assumptions and Terminology

• Any frame can serve as a reference system within which
to express the position and orientation of a body, so we
often think of transforming or changing the description
of these attributes of a body from one frame to another.

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Basic Assumptions and Terminology

• The motion of robot manipulators are analyzed
using a reference frame, which includes a base
frame that is attached to the nonmoving base of
manipulator, an end-effector frame that is
attached to the end-effector of manipulator,
sensor frames that are attached, for example, to
the force sensor and vision sensor, an object
frame that is attached to the body of the object,
and a work frame that is attached to the work
cell.

Basic Assumptions and Terminology

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Overview
• Kinematics : study of the geometric description
of motion (position, speed and acceleration)
regardless of the causing force or torque.
• Dynamics: study the forces required to cause
motion.
• The study of the kinematics of manipulators
refers to all the geometrical and time-based
properties of the motion (position, velocity, and
acceleration).

Overview
• Spatial Description: Robotic manipulation implies
that parts and tools will be moving around in
space by the manipulator mechanism. This
naturally leads to the need of representing
positions and orientations of the parts, tools, and
the mechanism it self.
Position and Orientation Description.
Transformation between Frames.

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Overview
• Forward Kinematics: A very basic problem in the
study of mechanical manipulation is called forward
kinematics. This is the static geometrical problem
of computing the position and orientation of the
end-effector of the manipulator. Specifically, given
a set of joint angles (joint variables), the forward
kinematic problem is to compute the position and
orientation of the tool frame relative to the base
frame. Sometimes, we think of this as changing the
representation of manipulator position from a joint
space description into a Cartesian space (task
space) description.

Overview

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Overview
Inverse Kinematics:
• Given the position and orientation of the end-
effector of the manipulator, calculate all possible sets
of joint angles that could be used to attain this given
position and orientation. This is a fundamental
problem in the practical use of manipulators.
• This is a rather complicated geometrical problem
that is routinely solved thousands of times daily in
human and other biological systems.
• In robotics, a computer control algorithm is used to
perform this calculation. In some ways, solution of
this problem is the most important element in a
manipulator system.

Overview
Inverse Kinematics:
• It is a mapping of "locations" in 3-D Cartesian
space to "locations" in the robot's internal joint
space.
• Some early robots lacked this algorithm. They
were simply moved (sometimes by hand) to
desired locations, which were then recorded as a
set of joint values (i.e. as a location in joint space)
for later playback.

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Overview
Inverse Kinematics:
• The inverse kinematics problem is not as simple
as the forward kinematics one. Because the
kinematic equations are nonlinear, their solution
is not always easy (or even possible) in a closed
form. Also, questions about the existence of a
solution and about multiple solutions arise.
• Study of these issues gives one an appreciation
for what the human mind and nervous system are
accomplishing when we, seemingly without
conscious thought, move and manipulate objects
with our arms and hands.

Overview

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Overview
• Velocity Kinematics: In order to drive the end
effector to follow a contour at constant velocity, or
at any prescribed velocity, we must know the
relationship between the velocity of the tool and
the joint velocities.
• The Jacobian: it specifies a mapping from
velocities in joint space to velocities in Cartesian
space. (i.e. How the joint velocities are related to
the end-effector velocity and resulting force.)

Overview

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Overview
• Kinematic Singularity: is a point within the robot
workspace where the robot’s Jacobian matrix losses
rank. (i.e. At certain points, called singularities, the
Jacobian mapping is not invertible).
• Force control: Manipulators do not always move
through space; sometimes they are also required to
touch a workpiece or work surface and apply a static
force. In this case the problem arises: Given a desired
contact force and moment, what set of joint torques is
required to generate them? Once again, the Jacobian
matrix of the manipulator arises quite naturally in the
solution of this problem.

Overview

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Overview
Manipulator Dynamics:
• In order to accelerate a manipulator from rest, slide at
a constant end effector velocity, and finally decelerate
to a stop, a complex set of torque functions must be
applied by the joint actuators.
• The exact form of the required functions of actuator
torque depend on the spatial and temporal attributes
of the path taken by the end-effector and on the mass
properties of the links and payload, friction in the
joints, and so on.
• One method of controlling a manipulator to follow a
desired path involves calculating these actuator torque
functions by using the dynamic equations of motion of
the manipulator (Lagrange Equations).

Overview

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Overview
• Path planning and Trajectory Generation: The robot
control problem is typically decomposed into three
tasks: path planning, trajectory generation, and
trajectory tracking. The path planning problem is to
determine a path in task space to move the robot to a
goal position while avoiding collisions with objects in
its workspace. These paths are encode position
information without timing considerations, i.e.
without considering velocities and accelerations along
the planned paths. The trajectory generation problem
is to generate reference trajectories that determine
the time history of the manipulator along a given path
or between initial and final configurations.

Overview

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Overview

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