MEC 403 - Robotics 2

Lecture 4
Manipulator Force Analysis

Introduction
Manipulator Force Analysis is classified as:

I. Static force analysis

Considers the manipulator as a non moving structure by
locking all joints.

II. Dynamic force analysis

Considers the links of the manipulator to be moving in
space with some accelerations.

2-2

1
 Mathematical Preliminaries

Mathematical Preliminaries
Skew Symmetric
Matrix Cross product of two vectors:

0 −𝑎𝑧 𝑎𝑦 𝑏𝑥
𝑎 × 𝑏 = 𝑎𝑧 0 −𝑎𝑥 𝑏𝑦
−𝑎𝑦 𝑎𝑥 0 𝑏𝑧
Example 1:
Determine the moment M of a force F acting as shown R
about point 0. The link length is l. Y X
Solution:
0
𝑙 𝑓𝑥
𝑅= 0 𝐹 = 𝑓𝑦
0 0

𝑙 𝑓𝑥 0 0 0 𝑓𝑥 0
𝑀 = 𝑅 × 𝐹 = 0 × 𝑓𝑦 = 0 0 −𝑙 𝑓𝑦 𝑀= 0
0 0 0 𝑙 0 0 𝑙𝑓𝑦

2-4

2
 Mathematical Preliminaries
Rotation Matrices in 3D

Rotation around the Z-Axis:

cosθ  sinθ 0
R z   sinθ cosθ 0
 0 0 1

Rotation around the Y-Axis:

 cosθ 0 sinθ 
R y   0 1 0 
 sinθ 0 cosθ
Rotation around the X-Axis:

1 0 0 
R z  0 cosθ  sinθ
0 sinθ cosθ 
2-5

Mathematical Preliminaries
Jacobians

 The Jacobian relates joint velocities to Cartesian velocities of

the tip of the arm (end effector).

 The number of rows equals the number of degrees of

freedom of the end effector
 The number of columns equals the number of joints of the
manipulator.

2-6

3
 Mathematical Preliminaries
Jacobians

Example 2: P

Find the Jacobian of the 2-Link planer manipulator shown.

Solution:
Position coordinates
𝑃𝑥 = 𝐿1 cos 𝜃1 + 𝐿2 cos( 𝜃1+ 𝜃2) of arm tip Point P
𝑃𝑦 = 𝐿1 sin 𝜃1 + 𝐿2 sin( 𝜃1+ 𝜃2)

𝜕𝑃𝑥 𝜕𝑃𝑥
0 𝜕𝜃1 𝜕𝜃2
𝐽=
𝜕𝑃𝑦 𝜕𝑃𝑦
𝜕𝜃1 𝜕𝜃2
−𝐿1 𝑠1 − 𝐿2 𝑠12 −𝐿2 𝑠12
= answer
𝐿1 𝑐1 + 𝐿2 𝑐12 𝐿2 𝑐12

2-7

Mathematical Preliminaries 𝑑2
𝜃3
Example 3 (5.15) Jacobians
P
Determine the 3 × 3 Jacobian that calculates linear velocity of
the tool tip P from the three joint angular velocities for the 𝜃1
manipulator shown. Then determine the velocity components of
Point P.
Solution Position vector 𝑋 0
𝑑2 + 𝐿2 + 𝐿3 𝑆1 of Point P
0
𝑃 = − 𝑑2 + 𝐿2 + 𝐿3 𝐶1 (𝜃1, 𝑑2 are variables)
0
0 𝑌0 𝜃1
𝑉𝑃 = 0𝐽𝜃

𝑑2 + 𝐿2 + 𝐿3 𝐶1 𝑆1 0
0
𝐽= = 𝑑2 + 𝐿2 + 𝐿3 𝑆1 −𝐶1 0
0 0 0
0
𝑉𝑃𝑥 =[ 𝑑2 + 𝐿2 + 𝐿3 𝐶1]𝜃1 + 𝑆1𝑑2
0
𝑉𝑃𝑦 =[ 𝑑2 + 𝐿2 + 𝐿3 𝑆1]𝜃1 − 𝐶1𝑑2
2-8

4
 Static Force Analysis
Two Approaches

1. Static equilibrium equations approach:

Apply for each link 𝐹 = 0, 𝑀=0

2. Principle of Virtual Work approach

𝛿𝑊𝑒𝑛𝑑 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑠 = 𝛿𝑊𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠

Static Force Analysis

Equilibrium Equation Approach

5
 Static Force Analysis
Static equilibrium equations approach

Objective
1. Traces the progress of forces through the links of the manipulator
from the input side to the output one.
2. Determine the joint torques that must be acting to keep the
manipulator in static equilibrium

Procedure
1. Lock all the joints so that the manipulator becomes a structure.
2. Expand the manipulator, i.e., consider each link separately.
3. Sketch the free body diagram of each link by showing all forces that act on
the link.
4. Write the equilibrium equations in terms of the link frames.
5. Compute the static torque that must be acting about the joint axis in order for
the link to be in static equilibrium

2-11

Static Force Analysis

Consider the FBD of Link i
𝑓𝑖 : Force exerted on link i by link i − 1,
𝑛𝑖 :Torque exerted on link i by link i − 1
Equilibrium Equations

Sum of forces = 0

Sum of torques about origin of {i}: = 0

Writing in terms of only forces and moments

defined within the same link frame.

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 Static Force Analysis
Joint torque/Force to maintain static equilibrium

Force/Torque propagation from one link

to the next one are given by:

Joint torque 𝜏𝑖

Joint torque required for equilibrium (Revolute Joint);

Unit vector of {i}
in direction Z

Joint force required for equilibrium (Prismatic Joint);

2-13

Static Force Analysis

Example 4
The shown two-link manipulator is applying a force vector
3
𝐹 = 10 20 0 𝑇 at its end-effector. Find the required joint
torques 𝜏2 for static equilibrium
Solution 10
3
2
𝑓2 = 23𝑅 3𝑓3 𝑓3 = 20
0
𝐶3 −𝑆3 0 1 0 0
2
3𝑅 = 𝑆3 𝐶3 0 = 0 1 0 (𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑏𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 0 @ 𝑧)
0 0 1 0 0 1
1 0 0 10 10
2
𝑓2 = 0 1 0 20 = 20
0 0 1 0 0
𝐿2 10 0
2
𝑛2 = 23𝑅 3𝑛3 + 2𝑃3 × 2𝑓2 = 0 + 0 × 20 = 0
0 0 20𝐿2
0
Exercise:
𝜏2 = 2𝑛2𝑇 2𝑍2 = 0 0 20𝐿2 0 = 20𝐿2 Answer
Determine 𝜏1
2-14 1

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 Static Force Analysis
Example 5
The shown two-link manipulator is applying a force vector
3
𝐹 = 10 20 0 𝑇 at its end-effector. Find the required joint
torques 𝜏1 for static equilibrium if angle 𝜃2 = −90° .
X2
Solution 10 Y2
1 2 2
𝑓1 = 12𝑅 𝑓2 𝑓2 = 20 , from example 4
0
𝐶2 −𝑆2 0 0 1 0 X1
1
2𝑅 = 𝑆2 𝐶2 0 = −1 0 0 (𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑏𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 90 @ 𝑧)
0 0 1 0 0 1
Y1
From
0 1 0 10 20 Example 4
1
𝑓1 = −1 0 0 20 = −10
0 0 1 0 0
0 1 0 0 𝐿1 20 0
1
𝑛1 = 12𝑅 2𝑛2 + 1𝑃2 × 1𝑓1 = −1 0 0 0 + 0 × −10 = 0
0 0 1 20𝐿2 0 0 20𝐿2 − 10𝐿1
0
𝜏1 = 1𝑛1𝑇 1𝑍1 = 0 0 (20𝐿2 − 10𝐿1) 𝑇
0 = 20𝐿2 − 10𝐿1 Answer
1
2-15

Static Force Analysis

Virtual Work (Jacobian) Approach

8
 Static Force Analysis
Virtual Work (Jacobian) approach
Let:
F is a 6 × 1 Cartesian force-moment vector acting at the end-effector.
𝛿𝑥 is a 6 × 1 infinitesimal Cartesian displacement of the end-effector.
τ is a 6 × 1 vector of torques at the joints.
𝛿𝜃 is a 6 × 1 vector of infinitesimal joint displacements
According to the principle of virtual work, we can write:
𝐹 𝑇 𝛿𝑥 = 𝜏 𝑇 𝜃 (1)
Recalling the definition of the Jacobian J: 𝛿𝑥 = 𝐽𝜃
Substituting 𝛿𝑥 in Equation (1):
𝐹 𝑇 𝐽𝛿𝜃 = 𝜏 𝑇 𝛿𝜃 (2)
Equation (2) yields:
𝐹𝑇 𝐽 = 𝜏 𝑇 𝜏 = 𝐽𝑇 𝐹

End Effector Forces F 𝐽𝑇 Joint Torques 𝜏

2-17

Static Force Analysis

Virtual Work (Jacobian) approach
Example 6 (5.13)
A certain two-link manipulator has the following Jacobian with respect to frame {0}:

Determine the joint torques required in order that the manipulator will apply a static
force vector 0𝐹 = 10𝑋0 . Assume 𝜃1 = 0, 𝜃2 = 90, 𝑙1 = 𝑙2 = 𝐿.
Solution
𝑇
−𝐿 −𝐿 10
𝜏 = 0 𝐽 𝑇 0𝐹 =
𝐿 0 0
−𝐿 𝐿 10
=
−𝐿 0 0
−10𝐿 1
= = −10𝐿
−10𝐿 1
𝜏1 = 𝜏2 = −10𝐿 𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟
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 Static Force Analysis
Velocity and Force Transformation
Manipulator velocities in frame {B}can be described in another frame {A} as:
Velocity
Transformation
Matrix

Manipulator forces written in terms of {B} can be described in another frame {A} as:
Force
Transformation
Matrix

2-19 Note that:

Static Force Analysis

Velocity and Force Transformation
Reading Assignment

RA. Show that if the velocity transformation matrix 𝐵𝐴𝑇𝑣 from {B} to {A} is
given , determine the transformation matrix 𝐵𝐴𝑇𝑣 from {A} to {B} ∶

Cross Product of
R and P

𝐵
𝐴𝑇𝑣

2-20

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 Static Force Analysis
Velocity and Force Transformation
Example 7 (5.11)
Given two frames {A} and {B} with associated velocity
transformation matrix 𝐵𝐴𝑇𝑣 . the velocity vector at the
origin of {A} is 𝐴𝑣. Determine the velocity vector with
reference point of the origin of {B}
Cross Product of
Solution R and P

2-21

End of Lecture 4

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