Robotics

QArm

Workspace Identification Laboratory

for MATLAB Simulink
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QArm Concept Review
Workspace Identification

Why Workspace Identification?

Kinematics refers to the geometric and time-based properties of the motion of an object without
considering the forces and moments that cause the motion. In this lab, we will study this relationship in the
context of position and orientation of manipulator linkages and end-effector with respect to joint angles in
static situations. This aspect of kinematics is called forward position kinematics.

In order to analyze geometrically complex manipulators, coordinate frames are attached to various parts of
the manipulator including the base frame of the robot which is a fixed coordinate frame, and the end-
effector frame of the robotic arm which is attached to the robot end-effector. The study of manipulator
kinematics describes how the location and orientation of these frames vary in different configurations,
based on the joint angles of the robot arms. The set of all obtainable positions and orientations form the
workspace of the manipulator.

In this lab, you will complete the forward kinematics formulation and use it to map the workspace of the
QArm manipulator. The forward kinematics function you complete here will be carried forward with you
throughout all the future lab activities.

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Coordinate Frame Assignment and Standard DH parameters
Robotic manipulators are generally constructed from joints and links. Joints can be revolute, meaning they
rotate, or prismatic, meaning they translate. Although joints can have multiple degrees of freedom (DOF),
each joint in this lab will be a single DOF joint. In this lab, we consider a 4-DOF QArm manipulator with all
revolute joints.

The standard Denavit Hartenberg (DH) convention (from Robot Dynamics and Control by M. W. Spong and
M. Vidyasagar) will be used to assign joint frames {0} to {4} and find the homogenous transformations
between the frames. Each homogeneous transformation 𝑖−1𝑇𝑖 between frame {𝑖 − 1} and frame {𝑖} is
represented as a product of four “basic” translation/rotation transformations
𝑖−1
𝑇𝑖 = 𝑅𝑜𝑡𝑧,𝜃 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑧,𝑑 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑥,𝑎 𝑅𝑜𝑡𝑥,𝛼

cos 𝜃𝑖 − sin 𝜃𝑖 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 𝑎𝑖 1 0 0 0
sin 𝜃𝑖 cos 𝜃𝑖 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 cos 𝛼𝑖 − sin 𝛼𝑖 0
=[ ][ ][ ][ ]
0 0 1 0 0 0 1 𝑑𝑖 0 0 1 0 0 sin 𝛼𝑖 cos 𝛼𝑖 0
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 (1)

cos 𝜃𝑖 − sin 𝜃𝑖 cos𝛼𝑖 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝑖 sinαi 𝑎𝑖 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝑖

sin 𝜃𝑖 cos 𝜃𝑖 cos 𝛼𝑖 −𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝑖 sin 𝛼𝑖 𝑎𝑖 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝑖
=[ ]
0 sin 𝛼𝑖 cos 𝛼𝑖 𝑑𝑖
0 0 0 1
Starting with the schematic in Figure 1.1, and the parameter definitions in Table 1.1, you can create a table of
link parameters 𝑎𝑖 , 𝛼𝑖 , 𝑑𝑖 , 𝜃𝑖 for 𝑖 = 1,2,3,4. Note that for 4-DOF, we have 𝐿1 = 0.14𝑚, 𝐿2 = 0.35𝑚, 𝐿3 = 0.05𝑚,
𝐿4 = 0.25𝑚, and 𝐿5 = 0.15𝑚.

Figure 1 Frame diagram for the Quanser Arm manipulator

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Note that the manipulator shown in Figure 1.1 represents its home position, at which, the DH joint angle
vector is given by,
𝜃1 0
𝜋
⃗⃗⃗ 𝜃 2 𝛽 −
Θ =[ ]= 2 (2)
𝜃3
−𝛽
𝜃4 [ 0 ]

The manipulator’s encoders and actuators though are calibrated at this position. Thus, an actuator position
command of [0 0 0 0]𝑇 would move the manipulator to the home position, where it’s encoders would read
a joint position of [0 0 0 0]𝑇 as well. This represents the physical manipulator joint space ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
Φ . The mapping
between these is summarized in Table 1.2 describes the manipulator in ⃗⃗⃗⃗ 𝜙 space, while we carry out the
mathematics in ⃗⃗⃗⃗𝜃 space without having to carry around the offset in equation 2. For example, a command
𝜋
of 𝜙2 = 0 will imply 𝜃2 = 𝛽 − 2 which corresponds to joint 2 in the home position. Similarly, the lengths 𝐿2 ,
𝐿3 , 𝐿4 and 𝐿5 directly are irrelevant to the mathematics as you will realize in the lab procedure. These length
transforms are also summarized in Table 1.2.

Measured About
Name /
From To Along
𝑎𝑖 link length 𝑧𝑖−1 𝑧𝑖 𝑥𝑖
𝛼𝑖 twist angle 𝑧𝑖−1 𝑧𝑖 𝑥𝑖
𝑑𝑖 link off-set 𝑥𝑖−1 𝑥𝑖 𝑧𝑖−1
𝜃𝑖 joint angle 𝑥𝑖−1 𝑥𝑖 𝑧𝑖−1

Table 1: Summary of link parameters

New parameter Original Parameter New parameter Original Parameter

𝜆1 𝐿1 𝝓𝟏 𝜽𝟏
𝝅
𝝀𝟐 √𝑳𝟐 𝟐 + 𝑳𝟑 𝟐 𝝓𝟐 𝜽𝟐 + −𝜷
𝟐
𝝀𝟑 𝑳𝟒 + 𝑳𝟓 𝝓𝟑 𝜽𝟑 + 𝜷
𝑳
𝜷 𝐭𝐚𝐧−𝟏 ( 𝟑⁄𝑳 ) 𝝓𝟒 𝜽𝟒
𝟐

Table 2. Linear mapping to simplify the mathematical formulations

Workspace Identification and Validation

Figure 2 visually outlines the boundary of the reachable workspace of the QArm manipulator. The red
trajectory is the path followed by the end-effector in task space, and measuring it requires the forward
kinematics formulation. In Figure 2a, a side view of the manipulator shows the reach of the end-effector in
a vertical plane as the shoulder and elbow reach their joint limits as well as limits related to surface
boundaries (such as a tabletop). Figure 2b shows a top-down view of the manipulator’s horizontal planar
limits as the base joint moves between its joint limits.

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 a. side view

b. top view
Figure 2. The reachable workspace of the QArm manipulator