Gimbal Modeling

Kinematic Conti01 Experiments with Tkussarm,
a Variable-Geomet ry-Ti:uss Manipulator
Regina S u n - K m Lee
A thesis submitted in coaformity with the requirements

for the Degree of Doctor af Philo8ophy
University of Toronto
Institute for Aerqace Studies
@Copyright by Regina Sim-Kyimg Lee, 2000
uisitii and
8' bgraphie Sewicm
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Abstract
'Lhwarm is a VariableGeometry-aims (VGT) manipidator, developed and
constriicted at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerpace StiHes. The
objective of this dissertation is to examine this new technoIogy to determine

its kinematics and conho1 characteristics.
In order to examine the kinemat-
ics properties of Thia9ann,a kinematics model is developed. An algorithm

to represent the macro8copic geometry of 'Ihisasrm as an equivaient discrete
model (a serial open chah of simple 3-DOF gimbal modules) is presented.
Redundancy resolution based on the quivalent discrete mdel is developed,

and,the kinematica and dineraitid kinematics d a l h m a m module ara de+
rived. Through experiments and simuiations, the control c h a r ~ i c of
s
'Pnissarm including workspace, dexterity, speed, and tracking accuracy, are

determiaed. Erthermore, a a m contd algorithm ie developed to improve
the control pedormance of 'lhissarm. The experimental results suggest that
Th-
pommsee many advantages over conventional manipulators although
its acctuacy d m fiom its phpicai size and complexily. However, the accuracy may be improved with c i ~ - 1 o o ppoeition conttoL
Acknowledgments
I wodd Iike to express my sincere gratitude to many people who made this
work possible.
First of dl, 1 w d d like to t h d my supervisor, Prof. Peter C.Hughes,
for his academic and technical advice throughout my graduate studies. 1 also
would like to thank my doctoral cornmittee members, Prof. Gabriele MT.
D'Eleuterio and Dr. Rank Naccarato, for th& technical advice in all aspects
of this work. Much of the work on the kinematics developrnent in Chapters 3
and 4 is the r d t of conversations with Dr. Kourosh Zanganeh. He patiently

taught me everything about hyper-redundant d p u i a t o r s .
The collvematio~~
with my cdleagues in the Spsceaaft Dynamics and
Robotice gmup have been invaluable to me. 1 am eepecially indebted to
Thierry Cberpillod for his technical support on the design and constmction
of 'km-.'
Much of the work on the design of Ihissarm was also providecl
by many previous students, including Stephen Oikawa and Roger Hertz. A b ,

many th&
to Andrew Allen for proofkacihg pette of this document.
1 a h would B e to acknowledge the Naturel Science and Engineering
Research Councii (NSERC),ISIS (now CresTech), University of Toronto, and
Dynacon Inc. for hancial support duting rny doctoral progm.
1 also wish to thank rny parents, Sang-Wook and Jung-Ja Lee, and my
sister, Sophia, for theh love and support. Their constant encouragement and
patience have been and will always be appreciated. Lsstly, 1wodd like to take
this opportunity to th& my hiuband, Thierry*Without his love and support
and most of all, his faith in me, this work wodd not have been posgible.
July, 1999
Maple, Ontario
Contents
List of Figues
Cbapter 1 Introduction
............................
1.1.1 Hyper Redundant Manipulators . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.1.2 Variable Gbmetry 'Ihies Manipulatom . . . . . . . . .
Thissarm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Motivation and Prnpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.
Literature Eteview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.1 Background
1.2
1.3
1.4
1
1
2
4
1.4.1 Kinematics Analysis of Hyper-Redundant VGT
Manipulatom
Design of and Ekperiments with VGT Manipulators . .
1.4.3 Kinematia Analpis of 'Zhissarm
14
OverviewofthisDocument
............
...................
15
1.4.2
1.5
.......................
Chapter 3 System D d p t i o n
17
2.1 Actuators and Senromechanianis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.1.1
lhsmnnActuator
....................
17
17
.................
Siipporting Stnictiue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2.1 M
o .........................
2.2.2 Passive Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.2.3 'Ihissarm Coordinate System . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.1.2
2.2
sexvomechanism
19
20
20
20
21
2.3 Tnissarm Control Environment (TCE) . . . . . . . . . . . . .
22
23
2.3.5
...................
Hyper-Redmdancy Redution . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Kinematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
GALIL corxuna~ds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Motion Execution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2.3.6
Cartesian Control
2.3.1
2.3.2
2.3.3
2.3.4
Tkajectory Planning
.....................
Chapter 3 Kinematics
3.2
3.3
..........
23
24
24
26
3-DOF Extensible Gimbai Module . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
.......... .
.. . . .
Kini?maticsofa'lkussarmModule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.2.1 InverseKinematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.2.2 Forward Kinematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Joint-Limit Avoidance Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.1.2
23
25
3.1 Kinematics of an Equivaient DDiactete Model

3.1.1
23
Chain of Gimbal Modules
Chapter 4 Dinerential Kinematics
28
31
31
35
37
42
4.1 Resolveci Motion Rate Control
..................
43
4.2 Jacobian Matrix and Hessian
..................
44
.........
Differential Inverse Kinematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
50
4.3 Dinerential Kinematics of a Twmum Module

4.3.1
51
Chapter 5 Paformmce Measurements

5.1 Workspace Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
..................... ....
Workspace Measmement Methods . . . . . . . . . . . .
'hssarm Workspace Experiments . . . . . . . . . . . .
Controllable Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Reach H i e r d y Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
59
5.1.2
60
5.1.4
5.1.5
........................
5.2.1 Deanition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.2.2 Dexterity Measmement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
RepeatabiityAnalysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.3.1 Definition . . . . . . . . * . . . . . ..
.. . . . . . . .
5.3.2 Repeatabii Measurement Method . . . . . . . . . . .
5.3.3 Ihisarm Repeatabiliw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
SpeedAnalysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.4.1 Actuator S p d . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.4.2 TipSpeed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.2 Dexterity Analysis
5.4
59
5.1.1 Definition
5.1.3
5.3
58
........................
Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Poeition Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Kinematc ('Ii.acking) Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
On-Line Cartesian Contd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Velocity Tkacking Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.5 Accmwy Anal@

5.5.1
5.5.2
5.5.3
5.5.4
5.5.5
Chapter 6 Contcol System Design
68
71
73
75
75
76
82
82
82
84
85
85
85
88
88
89
90
96
97
6.1 Control Design

6.2 SimulationTest
6.3 Implementation
..........................
..........................
..........................
Chapter 7 Conclusion
103
104
108
110
7.1 FinalRemarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
7.2 Cont~bl~tiom
7.3 FlltureWork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
References
................................
115
Appendix A An Example of a Contrained Optimization Probleml2l
List of Figures
A Discrete Morphology Hyper-reduudant Manipuiator Caltech
................*............
3-DOF VGT at NASA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
'Lhrssann Mark 1 at UTIAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tkussarm
Tapered Two-bay OctahedraI-QCt&edral VGT at NASA LRC
.
Plansr VGT,Caltech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Serpentine 'Ihiee MdpuIator, NASA Kennedy Space Center
..............................
Payload Inspection end Processing System . . . . . . . . .
Tetrobot
.........................
Actuator Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hinge Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
ThControl System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
-Mue
3-DOF extensible @bal module
................
Kinematia of a discrete m d e i . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Vectors in the kinematica of a Ihissarm module
........
66
5.8
.....
Workspace Boimdary Approximation . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
workspace of 1 Modiile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Workspace of 2 Mod~des . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
workspaceof 3 Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Woxkspace o f 4 Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tkussarm Workspace by Sweeping Method, sz-plane . . . . . .
5.9
Thissarm Workspace by S w i n g Method. xz-plane . . . . . .
67
.......................
68
......................
5.12 Contracted Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.13 Extended Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.14 Pitive x Reach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.15 NegativexReach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.16 Wor-e
of PUMA761 mruiipulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
68
5.2 'Ihisearm Workspace by J3xtmsion Method. zz-plane
62
5.3
65
5.4
5.5
5.6
5.7
5.10 Home Cod&uration
5.11 J-Shape Coafiguration
66
66
66
67
69
69
69
69
72
..........
..........
73
...
75
..........
5.21 Dexterity Measures dong a straight line (2-axb) . . . . . . . .
5.22Paetiuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.23 Ptiue2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.24Ptu.re3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
78
5.17 Ihisearm Controllable Workspace, xz-plane

5.18 'Ihissarm Controllable Workspace. zy-plane
5.19 Controllable Wor-
with Reach Hierarchy Algorithm
5.20 Dexterity Measma dong a c w e (xz-plane)
74
79
80
80
80
.............................
80
...........
5.27SetupforRepeatabilityAnalysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
81
83
...................
84
5.25Poetiire4
5.26 DexterityMeamesatPOehne1,2,3and4
5.28 RepestabityTestResultl
. . . . . .. . . .. .. . . . . . .
5-30 Repeatability Test Result 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.31 Vibration During Acceleration and Deceleration . . . . . . . .
5.32 The 12ich Pick-aad-Place Maneuver. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5.33 Square Tkajectory in Amiracy Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . .
90
5.34 'Pradcing Accuracy A d p i s = Square Qajectory, n=2, xz-plane
91
5.35 Configuration of Ihissarm: Square najeetory, n=2, xz-plane .
91
5.36 Configuration d 'lhissarm: Square Trajectory, 7 2 4 , xy-plane
92
5.37 Tkacking Aawscy Analysk Square Tkajectory, 71==4, xg-plane
93
5.38 'IkackingAccuracy Analysis: Square 'hajectory, r-4,
93
5-29 RepeatabityTestResult2
xz-plane
&q
84
86
87
5.39 T1:acking Aa?uracy Analysis: Ciicular Tirajectory, n=4, xz-plane 94

5.40 Velocity Tkacking Control Simulation Results, nt = 20 . . .
5.41 Velocity Tracking Contml Simulation Results, n( = 1000

5.42 Second nom of the enor vs. number of trajectory points
...
...
98
99
99
.. . .. . . .. .
l2
...... . ... .
105
5.43 Velocity Thckhg ControI, nt = 50, xz-plane
Augmenteci Kinematic Control Algorith
..
&or obtained h m the Simulation of Closed-Loop Control,

Square Tkajecbry, n=2, xz-plane
. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .
106
Simulation Wts h m C1osed-bop Contr01, Square Tkajectory, n=2, xz-plane
. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .
107
Simul~tionR d t s from Closed-hop Contr01, Circula 'Ikajectory, n=2, xz-plane
. .. . . . . ... ... . . . . . .. . .. .
107
'Ikacking Error vs. Number of lteration amund Fine Poeitioning
Control
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . ,
.. . . . . . .
10s
Results kom cimecl-hop Contml, Squm 'hajectorytn=2, xzpIane
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . - . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .
109
Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1
1.1.1
Background
Hyper Redundant Manipulators
Hyper-teciundant manipulators are those that have very large degrmatic redundancy. These manipulators are often r
of kin*
d to perform tada that
conventional robots are mcapable of accomplishing. Exemples Uiclude manip
ulatom in a highly comtrained environment, snakelike maneu-,
and the
grasping of objects. As Immega and Antonelli (1995) pointed out, "the pomi-
biities [of the applications of hyper-redundant menipulators] are limited only
by the imagination."
On the other haad, an dcient hyper-redundant manipulation highly

depends on the available methode for remlving the hyper-tedundant kinemat
ics. Most known rnethods of redimdancy resolution Iead to serial computa-
tions, hence their computational complexity gr-
with the manipulatot's d e
grees of fieedom. Due to the computational difficulties asaociated with hyper-
redundancy, hyper-redundsnt mmipuiators have been cooeidered inapplicable
Figure 1.1: A Diacrete Morphology Hyper-redu11ciant ManipuIator, Caltech

to industrial tasks until very recently.
Hyper-redundant manipulafors are generally grouped into t h e c a b
gories accordhg to their morphologies: continuous morphologr, ckrete mor-
phology, and Variabl&eometry-'Lhiss (VGT).A tentacle is an example of

a continuou8 morphology hyper-dudant manipulator. A diactete morphology hyper-redundant d p u l a t o r is a long chain of serid h h g e s r d t i n g
in a manipuletor with a very large number of degrees of fidom. A spatial

hmer-redundant M p u l a t o t of diecrete morphology (Figure 1.1) is under d e
velopment at the California Mitute of Technology. 'Ihiss8rm (Figure 1.2) is
an example of a hm=-redundant Variable-Geometxy-Thrss manipuletor.
1.1.2
Variable Geometry Truss Manipulators
The origin of Viable-Geometry-Th= (VGT)structures &tes back to the

w l y 8's when deployable and stackable etnictme8 were firat coneidered for
space applications. The VGT concept was dbved kom the concept of 'adip
tive', or 'smart' [Rabertshaw and Reinholtz, 19881 structures. Since then,
Figure 1.2: 'Ihieearm
numemus applications for VGT structures have been exBrnineci, inciuding the
manipuiation of payloads.
VGT manipulators comist of a series of selfantained modules. Each

module, in tum, is a parailel manipulator with thabldength members. The
adwmtage8 of a
VGT manipulator, compared to a anventional manipula-
tor of the same volume and mass, were realiaed early in the development:
stiffness, modularity, flexibiity, and dexkrity. buse of these advantages,
VGT rnanip~ilatorshave been considered for applications in space and undersea explorations and inspection. Examples of proposeci applications for VGT
manipidators incliide waste storage tank remediation [Salerno and ReinhoItz,

19941, on-site equipment r e m 4 w i a m s and Mayhew, 1997a]. and payload
inspection [\N.fiama and Mayhew, 1997bl.
More recentIy, VGT teEhaology has been ale0 amiderd for manufac-
tiiring and automation applications. Due to the modiilarity in VGT maaip
idators, they have adwtages for tasks that require changes in configuration,
or tasks in a constrained environment.
The term '%mm' refm to a modidar VGT manipulator design developed

at the University of Toronto Inetitute for Aerospace Studies (UTIAS). Labors
tory prototypee have been b d t to support the study of structures, manipdator
design, and the kinematics, dynamics, and control Iissociated with VGT m e
nipulators. The &t ?husarm, 'Ihissarm Mark 1, was built in the early 90's
as a proof~fanceptVGT mAnipulator. As sown in Figure 1.4, 'Ruassrm
Mark 1 is a 3 degreeof-freeom, doubleoctahedral manipulator.
More rently, a lZDOF prototype n~mely'Ihieserm Mark TI (which

will be simply refmed to es' -b
hereiaefer), was buiit. 'Ihiesarm con-
sists of four identical 3 d e ~ f - ~ (3-DOF)

o m modules that are connected
in series. Each module is a doublmtahedral patallei manipulator coneisting

of two identicai octahedral modules ehaRng a cornmon trianguiar facet. More
over, each doubleoctahedral paranel mruiipuiator hes tkee extensible links
that can be adjusted in lengths continuously, mueing three priematic actuators.
1.3 Motivation and Purpose

The main objective of this disseitstion is to develop a khematics control
scheme for a hyper-redudsnt VariableGeometzy-'Lhiss(VGT)madpuiator,
such as 'hssann, and to investigate its control characteristifs through experiments and simulations. The r d t s obtained kom this cbertation can be
iised to explore indiietnal applications.
In order to develop an efficient control scheme for h m ,the following research objectives have been p r o p d
a to efnciently model the kinematics of 'Ihuisarm
O
to analyze the perSommce characteristics of 'Ihissarm
to design and implement control schemes for Thusam
The kinematia of 'Ihisearm hm been previously presented in (Sallmen,

1993). However,the formulationof the kinematics used here t h admtage of
the stmcturai symmetry of 'Lhissam, thus providing a physically meaniaghil
model with a vety simple mathematical presmtation. One of the contributions of this dimertation in the field of VGT kinematics is the development of
a kinematics model at the velocity laval. The model pnsented hem is computstionally simple and easy to imp1ement.
Many hyper-redundant VGT d p u l a t o t e remained latgdy at the experimental level, primarily due to the difEiculties in the implernentation of
control schemea. As a r d t , many chamcteristics of VGT manipulators have
been examineci only through simulations and experimental verifications have

not been performed. Throughout thia dissertation, a number of expesiments
designed to examine the control characteristicsof 'Ihisearmare presented. The

experimental r d t s are compared with simulation r d t s and suggestions for
progressive improvements are made. The experiments presented here may be

adopted for other VGT manipidators to exsrnine their appiicability to practical
applications.
A control algorithm based on the hematics control experimentst is

p r o p d to improve tradting accuracy
The control design employa
layer appraach b the kinematics controL The method is implemented and

verified through a series of simulations and experhents.
1.4 Literature Review

1.4.1
Kinematics Analysis of Hyper-Redundant VGT

Manipulators
A cornmon a p p d to the kinematics problem for a hyper-redundant VGT

manipiiiator is mn/igumtion wnbrd In this approach, the shape of the backbone curve - a curva that captuma the ~ o ~ c o p geometric
i c
features of
the manipulafor - is amtrolled throughaut the motion in order to Bchieve a

set of predefined objectives.
These objectives can depend on the kinematics,
dynamics, or other relevant featues of the eystem. Many papers have been
written on codguration control.

$ h o ,
Reinholtz and Dhande (1990) used Eubic pammetric curvcs to
capture the geometry of a long chain of VGT maiiipulators. They explaineci
the adwmtages of the cubic c m m : "the pararnetric description allm for
curve dopes to pass through the vertical, without numerical dScultiesn and
aiso "aows for more flexibiity in controlhg the curve shape."
Nacauato and Hughes (1991) intrduced theconcept of efmce shape

curves, which is equident to the backbone curves.
To model the kinematics of
the reference shape c m , several spa curves were mggestecl inciuding Bezier
cimes, Esplines, and Beta-splines. Nscclvato (1994) i
Bezier akes to
model the kinematics of 'Ihtsssrm.
The above h o examples are both extrinsic schernes to parameterize a

backbone c m The backbone curve is modeled bg mathematic qace curves
mich as splines. An alternative is to adopt an intrimic scheme where a back-
bone cime is defined by its intrinsic representation in terms of a natimal p*

rameter.
Chirikjian and Bwdick (1990 - 1994) used this scheme to define
the backbone curve by using four independent shape fimctions. Their method
was refmed to as the continuum approach and has been applied in numerou8
applications of hyper-redundant manipulators.
Zanganeh and Angeles (1995) argued that "the contin~nunapproach

requires some intuition in the choie of the modes and is not a straightforward
task." An &rinsk scheme was p r e f d and it was suggested to use splines for
parameterization of the backbone cuves. Regarding the reference shape curve
method suggested by Naccmato and Hughes (1991), Zangmeh and Angeles

suggeste that Bezier curvee and BapLine8 do not provide a direct means for
incorporating the prescribed orientation ata of the end-e$ect~rin the curve.
Instead, they proped a parameterization of the backbone c u m using cubic
and quintic splines. One of the advantages of this method is that the user can
directly incorporate the end-effector pose constrainta into parametric equations
of the backbone c m ,
Zanganeh, Lee and Hughe8 (1997) d a
d e 1 3 of
3-DOF eztensible
gimbal modules ( a h referred to as "equivalent serial mechanismn)to reptesent
a backbone c m . The method was d e r r d to as a discrete mode1 approach

and applied to 'Lhunurrm. Wiams and Mayhew (1997a) applied a similar
approach to another VGT manipulator and the method was referred to as the
virtiial serial manipulator approach.
In peral, configuration control is used because of computation &ciency.
The procedure is a b often weil-suited for paralle1 procasng. Haw-
ever, configurationcontro1 does not permit opthnhation of otha &ormance

criteria such as joint limit amidance and siquhity avoidance williams and
Mayhew, 1997aj. More direct methods of solving the kinematics problem for
hyper-reduudant VGT manipulators include closeci-form inverse bernatics

analysis [Padmanabhan, et al., 1992) and ni~mericalsolutions to the Jacobian
matrix [Cdeld, et al., 19961.
1.4.2
Design of and Experiments with VGT Manipulators
While meny papera have been written on the design and kinematical analysis
of VGT manipul8tora, only a handhil of VGT manipulatom have been actudy
constructeci and experimentdly andyzed.
TO date, VGT manipulators that
have been constntcted are:

a
SDOF Doublmctahedral VGT at NASA Langley Research Chter (LRC)W

1994
'
h b a y , Octahedral-octahedral VGT at NASA LRC [Robertshaw and
Reinholtz, 19881
%perd b b a y , Octahedral-octahedralVGT et NASA LRC, [William
and Mayhew, 1997al
zhissarm Mark 1 [Hughee, et al., 19911

a
Serpentine Thss Manipulator (STM), a 16-DOF tetrahedral VGT, at
NASA Kennedy Space Center P i a m s and Mayhew, 1997bI

'Som figures shown in this chapterhave been coilected lrom the -Id wide web. Copyrights d tha figures rue reswad by tha authors of the web pages.
21n aiabomtion with Departmat of Ewgy, Battelle, Pacific N O & . . Laboratory,
and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
i,
Figure 1.3: 3-DOF VGT at NASA Figure 124: 'Ihmm Mark 1at UTIAS
0
3@DF planar VGT at California Inetitute of Technology [Chirilcjian,

1994, 19951
TETROBOT system Badinand Sand-n,
1994,199?j
The 3-DOF VGT at NASA (Figure 1.3) and the IhuissrmMark 1 (Figure 1.4)
are both SDOF VGT manipulators. In fact, they may be utilized as building
blocks for a larger and psibly redmdant VGT mrrnipulator. The 3-DOF
NASA VGT bears a atrong resernblance to the TRissMn Mark 1. In hia study,
William (1994) modeled a 3-DOFVGT as an extensible gimbal, which later

extended to the deveiopment of the V g i d Serial Manipulator Approach to
the h w b y VGT bematics. Hm,the term 'bay' d e r e to a module. This

is similar to the discrete d e l appoach to Ihisssrmkinematics tibcmd in
Figure 1.5: Tapered W b a y O c t a h e d r a l e a l VGT at NASA LRC
Figure 1.6: Serpentine Ihiss Mluiipulator, NASA Kennedy Space Center
10
Figure 1.7: P
k VGT,Caltech
Figure 1.8: Tetrobot
Chapter 3.
The 3-DOF NASA VGT, h-bay
VGT (figure not available) and the
tapered twebrry VGT (Figure 1.5) seem to belong to the same family of m e
nipulators dedopeci by LRC, which has Leen uivolved with numerom expar-
iments relateci to the analyeje of VGT mruiipulators.
Robertsbaw and Reinholtz's two-bay VGT is one of the fin&VGT manipulators developed by LRC to dernonstrate deplqrment concepts. This spi+
tial VGT is a b b a y , statically detamiriate, Octabedral-octahedd structure

with three actuators, providing 3 degrees of fieedom. In totai, the structure is
nearly 4.3 meters in length. Robertshaw and Reinholtz (1988) demonstrateci

the accwacy of this long manipulator by drawing on a surface with a pan at
the end of the manipulator.
The t a p d hmbay VGT is a part of the Selective Equipment Removai
(SERS).SERS was designeci for removing radioactive equpment and

nuciear materiaie h m wciear waste sites. One of the subsysteme of SERS is
an &DOF depbyment mluiipulator, whieh is a tepered ~ b a VGT
y mounted
System
onto a ZDOF &ai joint. The dimensions of the f h t VGT module are iden-
tical to the 3-DOF VGT in Figure 1.3. The seamd module is d e r in size.
A 30-DOF planet VGT (Figure 1.7)was ddgned and conet~uctedat the

California Institute of T&oIlogy (Caltech)to validate th& analytical nork
in kinematics and dynamics of hyper-redundant manipulators. Chirikjian and
Burdick (1993) wrote that the VGT was chosen among several morphologies
of hm-redundant ma,aipuiatorsfor "practicalimplementationn and the p b
ner manip~datorinstead of spatial manipulator Tor simpIicity's saken. This
planar VGT mruiipdator m118iSt8 of 10 identiccri modules. Each d u l e is, in

turn, a 3-DOF planar pardel manipulatoc. The manipulator arn mntract to
a minimum leiigth of 3.66 meters and extend to a mmchum -1
of 5.49
Figure 1.9: Payload Inspection and Processhg System

meters . The manpulator weighs lass than 55 kilograum. The S D O F planar
VGT manipulafor hae the edvantage of king moulair and extmnely easy to
assemble and disassemble; however, it share~with Thrssarm an accurq prob-
lem of enddector positioning. Frthermore, &ce it is a plenat manipulator,

it would have Iittle practicality for mart industrial applications.
'Serpentine' is simply another term ueed to describe a hm-redundant
rmnipulator. 'Snake,' 'tentade,' Wghly articulatecl' and 'highly redundant'
also denote the same f d y of manipulatom. The serpentine d p u l a t o r

(Figure 1.6) described by Williams and Mayhew (1997a) is a 16DOF tetrahe
&al VGT manipulator developed at the NASA Kennedy Space Center. This
manipulator is a mbsystem of the Payload Inspection and Processing System
(Figure 1.9).
The kinmatics modeiing and configuration contro1 algorithm, ref'ed

to as the follow-theleader algorithm, has been developed and applied to this
manipulatot. Based on the eXpenen leamed h m this exercise?s e v d recommendations were made by Williams and Mayhew including reducing the
actuator noise, and ensuring that the control system aiIowa all motors to reach
each commandeci set in the same time interval.
The TETROBOT (Figure 1.8) developed at Remdaer is a modular

and hyper-redundant VGT mechanism. The TETROBOT famy of robots
use a joint mechaniwi called Concentric Multilink Spherical Joint, that sup
ports modularity in not only the hardware configuration but also the software
architecture. The system is reconfigtuable with different applications.
Three
examples given by Hamlin and Stindemn (1997) are the doiibleoctahedral

and tetrahedral VGT manipulators and the six-legged walker. The double
octahedral TETROBOT has the same configuration as the ?hrsaarm Mark 1
and the 3-DOF NASA VGT. The main diffaence is that 12 of the 21 links
in the doub1wxtahedral TETROBOT are actuatom The d p u i a t o r is 1.5
me-
in length, and can m m verticaily alm08t 1 meter. The p e y l d is 80
kilogram and the peak end4ector speed is 6 m / s . The tetrahedral manipulator TETROBOT is corn&
d 4 modules with all membem actuated. The
tip velocity is approxhately 8 cm/s and the theoretid payload is 40 kg.
1.4.3
Kinematics Analysis of Tkussarrn
Two approachts have been taken ta the bernatics problem of Thssarm: the
link-length metho and the peta angle m a .
The petal angle method wm used by Hughes and Naacarato (1991), Sallmen (1993), end Naccarato (1994). In all three cases, a dosed-form solution
was achieved for the i n . kinematics, but not for the fimuard kinematics.
Oikawa (1995) briefly corisidered the diflerentid imerae kinematics of
a ?ihusarm module using the petal angle method. He demonstrated how

compcated the solution of the Merentid kinematics problem is.
The linMength method wris exsmined by Hughep, Sincarsin and Carroll
(1991), and Naccarato (1994). Instead of the petal angles, the link-length
method rises the coordinatee of the node points as variables.
The diff&rentialkinematics based on the link-length method was a b

stiidied by Naccarato (1994) and Oikawa (1995). The input to the differential
inverse kinematics problem coneists of the coordinates of six moving nodes
of B Thmm module, resdting in 18 independent coordinates. Accordingly,

the size of the system Jacobian is 18 x 18. This requires over 60 times more
computation than the 3 x 3 matrix in the petal-angle method. Thiis, the petalangle method is computatiody more eflrcient than link-length methods.
1.5
Overview of this Document
The system description of Thssarm is presented in Chapter 2. Components of

'Lhissarm hardware are divided acoading to th& functions into three groups:
aewornechanism, supporthg stmctiire, and control eystem. The physical layout of each component is desxibed uul their hctions SUII1II18fiZed. Several
technologies related to 'ihiassrm geometry and kinematics are introduced. For
instance, the definition of Ihissrrnnjoint coordinates is state. Mhermore,

the ciifference between joint coordinates and motor coordinates are given. The
frame of rderence used in the following chapters is also definecl in this chapter
in terms of the physical components of a h a r m module.
In Chapter 3, the kinematics model of 'Ihsarm is derived; a modifieci

discrete model approach is used. A configuration optimization technique is
applied to resolve the redtmdancy in kinematics. The forward and inverse
kinematics of each module are solved in terms of joint variables (8, 4 and I )
related to the discrete modeL The joint limit avoidance problem is crleo briefly
considemi.
Chapter 4 outlines the formulation of the differential kinernatics of
Tnmsarm. A Jacobian matrUt and Hessian are derived using a discrete model.
For n modules (a 3n-DOF system) the system Jacobian matrix is 372 x 3n. ELements of this rnatrix are expresseci in terms of (8, A 6). The Jacobian mat&
of the lhmsarm module is &O solved.
In Chapter 5, engineering performance data are discussed. Experimmts

designeci to measure the workspace, dexterity, repeatability, speed, and accu-
racy are describeci. Through the series of sirnulatian tests, these measu~ements
are predicted, then the d t s are verifid with expesiments.

Chapter 6 summarizes a kinematic control systern design. The proposed
control acheme is to apply coame control to brbg the end-efktor clthe target pOBture, then to apply fine position mntrol baseci on the
to
Beneor
idormation. Simuletion r d t s and experiments p r m that SUfficiently high

accuracy in poeitioningcan be achieved by using tbie propmed control m e t h d
The conclusions are & a m and suggestionsfor future aueSarm research

are made in Chapter 7.
Chapter 2
System Description
In general, a mmipulator pcissesses three attribut-:
actuators, supporthg
stmctures, and eome intelligence to control the actuators. Some appiicatione

require workqace feedback eeneore to achieve the higher performance.
In the
m e n t codguration, Tkmam poeseinies only the joint level feedback. This

chapter describes the t
h attributes of Ttvsaarm-
2.1 Actuators and Servomechanisms

2.1.1
Ihissarm Actuator
The Thmsarm actuators are the most basic substructures of the Thissarm control systern. They are independent linear actuators, each dnven by a DC motor
and a gear reduction assembly (pulleys and a drive belt). The motion of each
motor is monitored and controiled by an optical encoder and senromechaniism,
respectiveiy. The date of each actuator, Le., the distance that the Iead screw
has traveled h m the zem position, is reiated to the encoder counts (M) as
where M, is the number of e n d e r counts per motor revolution, G is the gear
ratio, and L the lead screw travel ratio. The factor 4 is included because the
Tkussarrn enders operate in the qttadrature mode. In the nirrent configurac

tion, the ratioe are 2,771,638, 1,422,878, 1,767,652, and 2,660,782 for module
1,2,3and 4, mpectively. The specification of the actuatots b given in Table

2.1.
The trawmhion ratio, caldate in Table 5.1, ie utilized to transf'

joint coordinates (actuator lengths) to motor amdinates (encoder cou&).
For example, the mBlfimum extension of a 'Ihniearm actuetor is 0.0762 m e

tars. For actuator 1, the maximum extension in encoder counts is 0.0762 x
2,771, 48 = 211,199 counts. F'or actuator 12, the same length equds 0.0762 x
1,351,734 = lO3,2 counts.
v
Motors
Mluiiit8cturer
Encoder
Counts
Tkansnrission Ratio
Gear Ratio Lead Screw
n a d
Table 2.1: Thmam actuator apecincations
Factor
Table 2.2: 'Ihieserm sewornechanisai PID gains
The enornechankm of each actuator is controUed by GALa motion controllers. Two DMC1080 controlks have been installeci on the wntrol oomputer to provide PID control. DMCl080's operate in the biie stmcture.
Eech DMC1080 is capable of providing control up b eight axes. For

Ihiesarm, only eix axes are servoed by each DMC1080. With two DMCl080's,
the conttol system provides ~
e
c to all twelve
h
axes.
~
The performance of the aervomechanism has been adjusteci using the
software, GALIL Motion Control - SDK100, provided by GALE communic&
tion Inc. The gains selected for Thssarm actuators are ahown in Table 2.2
and are btued on the step responae of each motor.
Figure 2.1: Ihissarm Module
2.2
2.2.1
Supporting Structure
Modules
Each 'Ihisami module is a double-octahecai pardel mAnipulator and possesses three tctuators of the bear electric lead-mew type. The lead mew
assembly acts as a bearing th& converts rotary motion to linear motion. Each
actuator is fasteneci at one end directly to the hinge amembiy that connecta
the actuator to the other end of the next actuator. As a result, tbree actuators
form a triangular actuator plane (see Figure 2.2). When fUlly extendeci each
actuator m
m 46.4 cm h m the to -ter
of the binge mechanim. The
length of a fully retracted actuator is 31.2 cm. Thus, Ihisrcarmactuators have

a 149 % extension ratio.
2.2.2
Passive Members
Each corner of the actuator plane is comected to a pin-joind hinge, which

in turn is connecteci to a 1ZMegree aliiminum piece. Ekom the 12Megree
connecfor, two dtirninum passive manbers are connected 60 degrees apart.
Figure 2.2: Actuatot Geometry
Figure 2.3: Hinge Assembly
See Figure 2.3. This aasembly provide8 the rotetional degrees of keedom
needed at the juncture between the passive structure and the actuator plane.
The aliimin~unpassive members make up six l a t d triangles. In the m e n t

configuration, each member is made of 0.95 cm aluminum tubing.
At the base of the lateral triangles, three pacsive members, made of 0.64
cm cidl rod, form a base or top trimgth plane. A top plane of one module
and a base plane of the next module are connected with a passive comector
to connect contiguous modules.
2.2.3
h s a r m Coordinate System
Consider the base plane of module 1, s h m in F i e 2.1. The three cornara
of the plane are denoted hi, L,b,in clockwiee direction. The geometric
center of the base triangle, 00, is denoted the amter of the base Bame, FO.
Moreaw, we define the x-axis of F0 as a unit vector through L,and the

z-axis as the vector out of the base plane.
The yack is d&ed as the vector
orthonormai to the x and z-axea The actuator above bot is denoted actuator
1 and actitators 2 and 3 are numbered in clockwiae direction.
The geometnc centei: of the top plane, 01,is the cent- of 4.The
Figure 2.4: 'Itusearm Control System

position of Ole x p d in Foand the orientation of of Fiwith respect to
describe the codguiation of module 1. Fieleo coincides with the baee kame
+ 1 kames in total.
In the actual manipulator, the base plane of module i + 1 and the top
for module 2. Therefore, for n modules, there are n
plane of module i are aeparated by a srnail ofkt in the passive connecter. To

simplify the kinematb, the Fi are definecl in the mid-plane behmen t h e two
physid planes.
2.3
Tkussarm Control Environment (TCE)
The purpose of the control unit is to eervo dl the actuators simult8neo~~ly

in such a way that the manipdator performs the desired task. One of the
simplest tasks proped for h a r m is trajedory tracking, such as trachg a
prescribed end-effector trajectory-
The control architecture is s h m in F i e 2.4. The main unit for the

Thssarm control system is the 'huniarm Control Environment (TCE).TCE
was designeci in M i ~ o 8 o f tV
isual C++, based on the DMC communication
sohare provided by GALE communication Inc.
In addition to the basic huictionsliQ reqimed for simple joint contrd,
TCE is capable of nimber of fimctione.
2.3.1
Tkajectory Planning
In order to demonstrate the kinematic controI, a simple path generatioa h c tion has been added to TCE.A lin-,
circiilar, or rectangcdar path may be
generated fmm the path generation menu. Base on geometric information,

such as the circuiar path, the corresponding poeifion and orientation of the
end-eff'tor is computed in three dimensional space.
2.3.2
Hyper-Redundancy Rasolution
Given the Cattesian coorinate8 (pition and/= orientation) of the en6

effector, the configurationof each module can be mputed using an eqyivalent
discrete mudel approach to hyper-redundancy remlution.
2.3.3
Kinematics
TCE is capable of eolvhg both inverse and forward kinemafics of ' h s s a m

modules. Once the configurations of d modules are obtained from the hyperredundamy resolutionprocess, the information isthen used to solve the inverse
kinematics, wbich yielcb the desired mtuator lengths.
For a given end-&ector path, two DMC filas are prepared by TCE. Each
file contains a trajectory for six actuators (inmtor counts). The d e s i d
actuator lengths, or joint coordinates, are converteci into motor counts. At

the beginning of each DMC file, the servo apeed is adjusted.
2.3.5
Motion Execution
The TCE is designecl to communicate with 1 or 2 DMC 1080 boards. For

motion control with 6 or fewer actuators, only one controk may be used.
For motion control with 7 or more actuators, both boards need to be selected.
For the kinematic control, two DMC files must be externdy downlosded to
DMC1080 boards. Then, fkom the motion menu, the program on two boards
are executed simuitaneously.
2.3.6
Cartesian Control
Using the terminal mode, the current Carmian position of the end4ectOt
may be manitoreci and commandeci.
Chapter 3
Kinernatics
The motion of a manipulator is often epecified by the mtion ad/or orientation of its end-effector. If the manipulator ie redUILdllllt, soma functional
specification is additionally regnired to resolve the rediindruicy. HHamn and
Sanderson (1997) d&ed this problem as the kinematic control pmbIem. In

their paper, the term "kinematic controln was used to describe Utlie stutic positioning of a monipdator, mociing slowly thmugh a set ofpdeflned trajectory
points." In kinematic control of a hyper-redundant manipulator, tthee tasks
are i r r m 1 d redundancy remlution, manipulatot kinematias, and control. In

this chapter, k
t two topics in kinematic control are considered. The control
methads are considered in Chapter 6.

A configuration optimization is an approach to the redundancy resolution problem. A proposed scheme for configuration optimization by discrete
mode1 approach, first developed by Zanganeh, the author and Hughes (1997),
is presented in Section 3.1. In Section 3.2, the forward end inverse kinematics
of a IhL9881plmodule are exBrnuleci. In Section 3.3, another issue in kinematic
contrai, joint limit amidance, is considezed.
--
Figure 3.1: 3-DOF extmsii1e gimbd module
3.1 Kinematics of an Equivaient Discrete Mode1

3.1.1
3-DOF Extensible Gimbal Module
A diecreta mode1 that crpprooMurtes the backbone curve in a p i e i n e a r
W o n was inttodud by Zanganb, L w and Hugha (1997). A d i s e

mode1 of a byper-redundant mAnipdator b obtaimd by a oonc8tmation of
3-DOF extensible gimbd modules. Each module hs, in tum, three spthat p d d e ampliance Lot the three motion freedmie.
T h e g e o ~ d b ~ t i c aao ~f d u l e i e p ~ b y t h r e a
independent vatiablcs, O,+, and 1. As shown in Figure 3.1 (i), a gimhl m d e
wneisCB of a iuiiversa jad with tno rotational DOF and one prismatic joint.
Taie mode1 is modifieri b taise advantage of the geometric qmmetry (about
the actuator plane) of the module. Instead of one prismatic joint, two coupled
priamatic joints are used (Figure 3.lCi)). The 1 4 kame
is assigneci to
the ith gimbal module such that its center is at the base of the nrSt prismatic
joint
and the 2- and y--
are paralle1 to the rotation axes of the universal
joint. The orientation d the zth kame,Fi, with mpct to &i,
is described
&O
the position of the ongin of Fi,e x p r d ni 6-1,
where 1ie the 3 x 3 identity matrix. The kiaematica of an extensible gimbal
3.1.2
Chain of Gimbal Modules
Let us now consider a chain of n-gimbal modules, refmed to as the equivdent
dLPmte modeL Expressxi in the base hune, FO,the position and orientation
of the end &tor
(or the tip of the manipulator) are
where t ami Qt represexst position and orientation of the end &ector with
respect to Fn,
and a h ,
r
where b = k+l = 0. Aleq E is a selection matrix and k is a unit vector,
The inverse kinemafics of the quivalent diacrete mode1 is much more

complicated than the forward kinematics. This problem is oRen refmed to
as the dundancy ~
opmblem,l since the

~ number of unknown variables
is much greater than the number of constrejnts. The redundancy rdution
methode are often at the velocity level. They are baseci on the manipulator
Jambian pseudc&verse, The main goal is to minimize a c t hction, Z(q),

and to d v e for the joint variables, q.
If the manip~iiatorpossesses a large number of degrees of redundancy?

Le., if the manipiilator is a hyper-redundant manipulator, its kinematics can
not be e d y formdated iising an inverse Jacobian since it is ciifficuit to buiid
a mathematical model. An alternative technique to resolve hyper-redundaucy
is configuration control.
The method proposeci by Zangaaeh, Lee and Hughes (1997) is to minimize the cost fimction, 2,of the sy~tem,aven as
while sat-g
the kinernatic constraints:
where x, ami n, are the desireci position and orientation of the endeffector.
The Lagrangian approech is adopted to h d the solution set, q where
Ifwe define w ( q ) and u as
then the Lagrangian is
and thus, the normality conditions are
where X is the vector of Lagranpian multipliem. For n gimbal modules @ = 3nDOF system) with m kinematics constraints ( m = dim(g)
(3.14) and (3.15) lead to p
+ m nonhem qations in te-
+ dim(h)), eqs.
of q and A.
The w term in q(3.14) hm alreaciy been derived in eqs. (3.3) and

(3.4). Now let us consider the
Next, consider
t e m in eq. (3.15). Rom eq.(3.7),
we have
term. Rom eqs. (3.3) and (3.4), the foliowing equations
may be derived:
where
for i = 1,... ,nwith P,,,= ki+ t and
=Q&.
By d e t i o n , $ is
for i = 1,. .. ,n. For each i, the fimctions can be differentiated with respect
Equ&ions (3.14) and (3.15) may be d v e d using any numerical method

for noniinear systems of equatiom. Examples include the muitidimensional
secant methods euch as Newton's method, quasi-Newton method, and the

Broyden's method. in the contder design, Broyden's method was emplayed
Chapter 9 of Pr-, et al. (1992) may be referred to fol more detae.
3.2 Kinematics of a Tkussarm Module

3.2.1
Inverse Kinematics
In this section, the inverse kinematics probiem for a ' I h s a x m module is considered. The objective is to solve for the actilator lengths of the jth module,
kit when the corresponding gimbd module's joint -able
qj aie specined.
Since ody one ' I h a m ~

module
~
is considemi at a t b , the subscript j will
be omitted in this and the folowing section.
Consider the geometry of a modide shown in Figure 3.3. It can be

observed that the vector d is the mm of 4 and 9.Le.,
d=I~+f2=l(~+~)=diil
(3.29)
where nI is the unit normal of the actuator plane. The unit direction vector
of the top triangle, fi2, may be cornputeci using 0 and 4:
where
By definition,
coL(0, O, 1) sine dl the vectom me defineci in 3j-i,

wha~e
z-axisis pazailei to &. Hence,
Let us defme this scalar as a. Then, iilis
sint#
a
Since d is perpendicular to the actuator plane, dis perpendic~darto any vector

lying on this plane. Using this relation, we an calculate the petal angles, 71,
n,and 73.
Rom Figure 3.3, it is shown t h t 62 (the o h t of the actuator
plane fkom the plane formed by petal nodes, ri, r~and Q) lies in the direction
of iil.Aence, for i = 1,2,3, we have
where
is the ith column of the matrix e that tepresent the the base plane,
lm is the side hgth of an ieometric petai triangle and hl is the side length of
the equiiateral base or top triangles. For Ihissarm II:
hl
= 29.14
(3.44)
cm
lm = 27.33
(3-45)
til
(3.46)
= 0.95
62 = 4.83
(3.47)
Refer to Oikawa (1995)and Lee (1995)for more details of h a r m geometric
constants.
Substituting q(3.40) into eq.(3.39), we obtain the following equation
for the petal mgles:
[(CI
+ (61+~ ~ i n r i ) i-i o(1%
Q C Q B ~ ~ ) ~
- b&)lT
d =O
(3-48)
Eq.(3.48) may be simplified:
where
Thus the petal angles are
Once the petal angles are cdcttlated, nociai coordinates are found h m eq.(3.40).
LBPtly, the actuator leogths are computed from the nodal coordinates:
The remaining nodes on the base triangle and the top triangles are
determineci by simple trigonometrie relations. The base nodes are
and, for i = L,2,3,
(3.58)
The top nodes for i = 1,2,3, are cornputeci using symmetric propertias,
i.e.,
b, = Rolbo,+d
(3.59)
& = to,-6ih
(3.60)
and
3.2.2
Forward Kinematics
The fornard kinematics problem deals with solving for enhffector pmition
when the actuator lengths are given. ki this section the solution for q = (O, 0,l)
are considered when & = (kl,ly, 4)is piven.
Upon substitiiting eq(3.40) into eqs. (3.54), (3.55), and (3.56), we get
These equations can be simplifieci to
These nonlinear equations are mlve for 71,.%, and
numericaliy. Then,
Moreover, using eq.(3.38), we can write
or, a = 2ni,.
fi2:
Also, fiom eq.(3.38), we can derive the foIlowing relations for
for O 2 8,$ 2 $. Given the workspace of 'Ihusarm module, this restriction is

remonable.
Equation (3.48) can be written as follows:
Thus, we can solve the above equation for 1, Le.,
The inverse kinematia solution preaented here is b a d on the petal

angle method. By introducing a new set of input variables, d , q5 and 2, the
requirement to solve the forward kinematiica was r e m d . The algorithm is
now in c l d form, and also codd be computed in pardel fashion. The

p r o p d forward kinematia could also be solved by pardel computation.
Udortunatdy, the expiicit c l d - f o m solution for the forward kinmtics
problem h a not yet been obtained The solution for the differentiai forward
kinernatics is presented for the 6rst tirne in Chapter 4.
3.3 Joint-Limit Avoidance Problems

The redundancy resolution scheme presented in Section 3.1 does not guarantee that the resulting optimal confisuration remaim within the actuator limits. Hence, the next Logical step is to develop a h--redundancy
resolution
scherne that indudes the actuator limits in the configuration control.
The existing Zhisssrm actuators are capable of hear motion between

f0.0762 m fiom their ba9elm@.1 This, for i = 1,. .. ,3n,
Let iis also define k,, a t
h ens si on al vector whose components are three
actuator lengtbs of the jth bay. Hence, k j is a function of Bi, #j and lj. h o ,
we define a new vector k as col{kt, kz,
,ka%).
The objective of the prob1em ia now to rninimize the cost function, 2,

while the folowing kinematic constraints and the following inequality constraints are met:
( q )
w-v
= O
5 O
(3-77)
i-1,-
,3n
(3.78)
A nonlinear optirnization pmblem with both equality and ineqdty

constraints is &en mlved numerically. h shown in an example in Appendix
A, it is very difficidt to fhd a computationally &cient algorithm for the

problem. For more details on the optiniization techniques, the readers can
d e r to Strang (1996) or Vaderplats (1984).
Vanderplaats (1984) exBrnineci a general approach to the constrained

optimization problem called aeqwntid uneonstrcrined minimizution techniques
(SUMT).The classical approach to iising SUMT is to create a pseudo-objective

function of the form
where Z(q) is the original objective function, P(q)is an i m p d penalty function, and the scalar r, is a multiplier which determines the magnitude of the
penalty. The siibecript is the unconstrained minimization number. For more

details, see Vmderplaats (1984) and Fiacco and McCormick (1968). Three
traditional approaches to SUMT are "the exterior penalty fimction method,"
"the interior penalty hinction method," and "the extendeci interior penalty
hinction method." The nret method is to penaze the objective fimction only
when constraints are violateci. It is the &est
method to incorporate into the
design algorith. The second method penaiizes the objective function as the
design oppmache~a constraint, and the last method is the combination of the
fArst two*
In Tbsarm's kinematics analysis, the exterior penalty hinction method

waa applied. The peeudwbjective fiuiction for the probkm can be defineci as
1 - &. The problem is solved in three stepe:

1. Minimize @(q)with initial guess for q, a mail value of r, and a constant
r(
W ~ Y 3)-
2. If the solution convesges - that is, if the 801ution q satisfies the kinematic conetraint, w(q) = O - end the procedure.
3. If w t , the penalty parameter r, ie in-
to "~r,
and the procedure is
repeated.
In order to rninimlze O(q), a set of 3n nonlinear equatiom are obtained

and solved iising Broyden's method:
[m=[O.h]
--
m=[O,Q]
The solution for $ was presented in Section 3.1. To evaluate

p, a~ the joint variables of the jth gimbai module,
(3.82)
g,let us define
Bi, 4j and S. Then,
is the i n . e Jacobian of the jth 'IhLssarm module and its solution wiii
be discussed in Section 4.3.
The algorithm is relatively easy to program and a h reamnably efficient.
(ii) V
a
c
m on the base p h e
*Y
(iii) Vactors on the b a t o r p h e

Figure 3.3: Vectors in the kinematics of a Thsami module
Chapter 4
Differential Kinematics
In the previous chepter, it was shcnun how m c u l t it is to h d an explicit
cld-form solution to the kinematim problem of h m . In genesal, e
lutions to the kinematic problem require numerical approech. An alternative
approach to the kinematic control problem is to examine the differential relk
tionship between the end-dfctor coatiguration, u (z, and fi-), and the joint
variablea (or design variables), q.

Previously, the bction w(q) was defineci as
If the above function is differentiatd with respect to time, we get
If the Jacmbian matrix, $,ie invertible, Le., if the manipulator is not redundant and has no kinematic singtilarities, the joint velocity vector 4 can be
easily obtained by
However, if the manipulator ia redundant, eome redundancy tesolution methoci
needs to be employed. The objective of this cihapter is to find a solution to q,
when O is specified.
The control technique describeci in q ( 4 . 3 ) is commody rderred to as

resolved motion rate control (RMRC). Schilling (1990) defined RMRC as a
''probim to expmss the actuator velocities as finctons of the veloctOCtties
of the
task coordinates."
In Section 4.1, the RMRC of ?hissarm is discussed. The Jacobian

matrix and Hessian are derivecl in Section 4.2. In Section 4.3, the diffixential
kinematics of a Tnissarm module is presented. The actuator vdocity vector,
k, is relete to the equivaient dirwete model's joint velocity vector, q, and its
inverse hction is presented.
4.1
Resolved Motion Rate Control
8 w T and r = (#)T. If we partition W and x thus,

where W = (=)
where, dim(Wl)=m x m, dim(Wz)=@
dim(a)=@ - m)x 1, then we can write
- n) x rn, dim(zi)==mx
1, and
Let iis defme the la-hand-side of the above equation as N. The problem in
hand c m be written as follows:
Compareci to eqs. (3.14) and (3.15), the total number of equations hm been
d e c r d &an m + p to p. Upon differentiating eq.(4.8), with respect to tirne,
we obtain
where quivalent mtrix and vector W eand v. are defineci as:
Thus, provideci W eis not singuiar, we have
4.2
Jacobian Matrix and Hessian
In this section, we concentrate on the solution for W.in eq.(4.11). Note that
is
the andytical solution for $ is given in Section 3.1.2. The solution for
derived here. By dennition,
Fkom eq.(4.7), we can derive the relation bdow
(c)=,
$($f)Tand &
where
and
are the fmt rn rows of
while
and
are the remaining ( p - m)m.Rom eqs. (3.16), (3.17)
respectively,
and (3.18),the fohwing derivatives may be obtained:
for a, j E (1,
--- ,
n, i
# j), where q, is one of the joint variables associateci
with the j'th module, (O,,
#j,
1),
. Moremer,
In rnatrix form,
O,
fkom eq.(3.22), we can write
in the fonn
Equations 3.23 thmugh (3.28) cm be used to calculate $
Since Qi is a hrnction of Bi, q5i and 4 oniy,

define
(e)
and
& (h).
= 0. Fhthemore, we
Then, for j < i, Merentiate eq43.23) w i t h respect to Bj to obtein
(3.26), eq(3.27) and eq(3.28) we get
The saxne d e appiies to the derivateg with rsspect to # j and lj.
Next consider the second derivative of W,
&,where i = j. First differentiiate
eq.(323) with respect to Bj to get
Simibrily, the deri~8tive~

with respect to Bi are,
N e , c0f18jda the derivativee nth respect to &j
Findy, the derivatives with respect to tj are
So far, the elements in
have been expressed in terme of the first and
the expression for these derivatives.
a.
2 and
First consider 2.
second derivatives of the rotation matrix, Qj,
We now derive
The second derivatives of the rotation matrice8 Qjmay be derived from the
Thus far we have derived the solutions for
aml
aar
in eqe(4.14),
which is part of RMRC equation, (4.12). We are still misahg the solution
for
w;' and 8 ~ - 'in order to complete eq(4.14).
Since the dimensions of
Wl depends on the number of hematic constraints, rn, we can not find the
general solution for the problern. However, an example case with m = 3 is
For rn = 3, Wlmay be written as
The adjoint matrix of Wris denotecl by w1,where
And, the determinant of
Wlis obtained as
The corresponding dezivatives of Wlwith respect to qj take on the

forms
4.3.1
Differential Inverse Kinematics
The objective of this section is to derive the dgebraic solution to the i w m e

Jacobian matrix, G:
where, k = (ki,k2,ka),and q = (O,#, t). Hence,
Ekptiom (3.54), (3.55) and (3.56) may be written as followa:
Differentiating the above equations with respect to qi, for i = 1,2, and 3,
yidds:
In order to consida derivatives with respect to al1 three independent

variables, O , $ and 1, let us define an operator, $, as foilows:
Then, for for j = 1,2,3, we have
upon solvhg eqe. (4.67), (4.68) and (4.69) for
2,we obtain
A b , eq(3.40) can ba cMerentiated to fhd an expression for
Hem, the only unknown v a r i a b are
geh
2,namdy,
m eq.(3.49), we have
Rearrange this equation to solve for $.
In order to solve this equation, we now need the s01utioas for f80,
K
hi. First, let us conaider
&,
8
and
$.Rom q(3.50):
If we dehe new vectom 4 = coi{q, 0 2 , a3) and f

derivatives may be expresseci in the matrix form as
= col{ fI, f2,
f3),
their
and similm for
g. Equation (4.76) then can be written as
Recall that e ie defined in eq. (3.41).
N d , for $ digerentiate eq(3.52).
where
6q
= (Ro
an, + g(-p
8%
81
+ h)T(-)l
+
(-)
a!?
Bq
Bq
[iiT(ng + w]
Third, dilferentiate eq. (3.51) to hci $.
Up to this point, derivativee have been expressed in
unit normals, RI and t2. h m (3.32),
ternia
of derivatives of
Fkom eq. (3.38), we have
where
4.3.2
DBerential Forward Kinematics
The forward Jambian, 3, is developed in this section. At the outset, we note

that
Differentiating eqs. (3.66), (3.6?), and (3.68) with respect to k, yielde:
where
and
for i = 1,2,3 are known constants. For example,
where O is the 3 x 3 zero matrix, PI
= diag(a1, al,al),Pl = diagm, Pl, A),
and ao on, and k = col{kl, 0 , 0 , 0 , 4 , 0 , 0 , O, ks). The above equation ie aolved
for
to
2 for i and j = 1,2,3. Moreover, by dinerantiathg eq.(3.40)
k, we can &O find
with respect
2as
Rom the definition of the unit normal of actuator plane, fii, the following
relation is derived.
where
Note that
aArl Brl
-=---
Bk
Brz
akd
(4.99)
eq. (4.97) may be expandeci using the properties of the cross prcxiuct,' Le.,
Rearrange the above equation for %:
But, a = 2bi,. Thdore,
Similady, n2 is a function of 0 a d 4. Therefore, fiom eq.(3-71), we have
where
The Ja~obianis, in fact, the collection of eqs. (4.105), (4.104) and (4.106),
Chapter 5
Performance Measurements
The robotic applications have been proposeci in numerous areas where the use
of humane iii imprELCticai and undesirabie. The following meas are examples
of the application of industriai dpulators:
O
material trda taslee, such acl molding and stampng
assemb1y tasks such aa weiding and grinding
taaks in hazardow m . n m e n t s such as undema and planetary expl*

ration, and satellite r e t r i d and repair.
The perfotmance of an indiutrial manipdator is often determined by several

criteria inciuding:
repeatab'ity
speed, and
Depending on the application of the manipulator, the signifimce of each prop

erty may vary. For exsmple, for a positionhg application such as a pick-and-
place maneuver, speed and accuracy are the m a t important characteristics
while dexterity is not as signifcant.
In order to examine 'Lhtssarm's practicality as an industrial manipula

tor, these properties must be determineci. This chapter is about such measure
mente. Throughout this chapter, the control experiments designeci to measiue

aome of the pmperties are outlined and performance characteristics are dia
cusse* The measurement methode introduced hem may be ex~~flded

to other
VGT manipulators.
Sections 5.1 through 5.4 focus on the generd duracteristics of aUeearm.
A more in-depth discussion is pmvided for accuracy of the kinematic contd

in Section 5.5. The kinemtia modal, developed in the previous chapters, are
applied to implement Mnematic contrd algorithm In Sections 5.5.2 and 5.5.3,
the f0-d
and i n . kinematics algorithm preeented in Chapter 3 are a p
plied for position contrd and tracking control, respectively. In Section 5.5.5,
resolved-motion rate control developed in Chapter 4 ia applied to examine the

veiocity contml.
5.1
5.1.1
Workspace Analysis
Definition
The wotkspace of a mmipulator is the total volume swept out by the endeffectoc as the mruiipulatorexecutes dl possible motions. Two types ofworkspace
are o h considd. a reachab1eworkspace and a dexteroua workepece. Spong
and Vidyasager (1989) de-
the reachable workspace ae "the entire set of
points in space reachableby the manipidator," whereas the dexteroiis wrkspace
is the set of pointe that "the manipidator can reach with an arbitrary orien-
tation of the end &ectorn In this section, only the reachable workspace of
Thssarm is considered. The dexterous workspace of Ihiasarm wiU be considered in the following section.
5.1.2
Workspace Measurement Methods
The methods to meernue mkspacea have been examinai by several authors

including Korein (1985) and Kwon et. ui. (1994). One oommonly used method
is the 'extension method.' A set of points in the workepace ie generated by

stepping egch actuator through its range. For Ihissann with n modulee (that
is, 3n ~ctuatom), comb'u18tions of joint coordinates have to be considered,

where r is the number of dleaete joint settings. For exemple, when three
set-
(maximum, center and minimum actuator lengths) are used for 1 2
DOF 'Russarm, 312=531,441points have to*be considemi. It is extremely

difncult to ewmine that many points to derive a mathematical description of
the workspace.
The extension metho was first applied to 'Ihiaearm by SaIlmen (1993)

for one module. S h e n d d b e d the wot.lrspace of a 'Ihisaannmodule as an
umbrda with three corners. The workspace of 12-DOFh a r m wes studied
by Hughes et al. (1999). In both studiea, 'Ihissarm workspace was computed

by solving fumard kinematics at each actuator lengtbs at discrete actuator
displacements. The result found in Hughes et al. (1999)is shown in Figure

5.1. Similar simulation was performed with a set of BCtuator displacements
that yield end-effector position^ on the xz-pIane. Such joint states can be
Figure 5.1: Ihisearm Workspace by Extension Method
Figure 5.2: Thrss8fm Workspa by Extension Methd, xz-plane
uniqiiely d&ed
k3i+l = k3i+2 for i = O, 1,. .. ,n- 1. To keep the num-
ber of discrete configurations amall, three joint states are chosem km=, 0,
and
&.
The tesiilting joint sets are combination of the following settiags

IYUM~:
(hnmc, h a x , &),
for
(hmw k m , 0)7 ()max, kmax, krnac),
(Q,O,kmax), @,O, O), (0, O, kw)(hl

, b9
krnax), (&, &, 0). and
(kmin, k-, kmin). For 4 modnlee, the total nimbe of diecrete configuration
is g4 = 6,561. Result of the simulation test is shown in Figure 5.2.
Another method is the 'sweeping method.' This method was proposed
for an open-link kinematic chah by Korein (1985). First, the k t joint in the
Chain is ewept through its r
w to generate Wi.Then, the second joint is
m p t to generate Wgand eo on until the last joint is swept.
Since Thsam is not an open-Iink seriai d p u l a t o r , the gweeping

method can not be directly apped. The method p r o p d here is a c o m b b
tion of the extension method and the sweeping method. First, the extension
method is applied to the nth module to determiae the workspeca of the last
module. Then, joints in the module n- 1are VIUjed to detamine the workspace
of chsui of module n and n - 1, and so forth. As in the pcevious section, the

workspace on xz-plane is considered h m . The boutldary of the workspace ie
appraximated as foilm: (tefer to Figure 5.3.)
a
Choose a point in space, 6.
Cornpute the distance, ri and angle, Bi from e.to anend&tor
rithin the workspace7pi:
8. = tan-'(
c
.
,
CO$
- Pi,
- Pi&
pasition
a Determine points pj
where its radius is the mBximum and minimum
arnong dl pi's auch that 8j-i
< Bi 5
( Bj =
W),j = 1,-.* , N oN
be arbitrarily chosen for the 8ccuracy of the woaicspace representation.

a The workspace b o d a r y can be approximated as the curve on which pj
lie.
This method of approximation can be easily extendeci to the three dimensionai

representation of the worirspace.
Figure 5.4 shows the workspace of one module generated by the sweep
ing method. The nine actuator displacements that were used in the e x t a i o n
math& are also marked on the aame gmph to permit cornparison between
the two methode. Figure 5.5, 5.6 and 5.7 show the rorkepece of 2, 3 and 4
modula respectiveiy. The boundary of workspace is marked with a dotted
iine. The ehaded region an each plot ie the workspce of chah 1, 2 and 3,
respectively. Figure 5.8 is the coilection of the results lrom Figure 5.5, 5.5,5.6
and 5.7. It can be e d y aeen how quickly the workspace of Tivssazm grows
with the number of modules.

Lady, Figure 5.8 is the combination of results lrom the extension
method and the sweeping method. Rom this coniparison, it is noted that
the extension and 8weepi.q methods provide very emiiler redts. However,
because sweeping is only the first-order approximation, it does not yield all
possible points. Instead, only a good approximation can be obtained. On
the other hand, this method is more computatiomlly efficient and less tirne
consiuning*
Figure 5.3: Workspace Boiindary Approximation
La-
uu-
Figure 5.4: Workepace d 1Module
Figure 5.5: Workspace of 2 Modults
sa)
....
u+
u
U
La
Figure 5.6: Worirspace of 3 Modiiles Figure 5.7: Workspace of 4 Modules
Figure 5.8: IhissarmWorkspw by Sweeping Method, xz-plane
Figure 5.9: 'ihiaearm Workspace by S w i n g Method, xz-plane
5.1.3
Dussarrn Workspace Experiments
Next, the focus is placed on the experiments, designeci to demonstrate the c*

pabiity to reach the predicted workspace limits. F M , a computer simulation
with animation was devdoped to simulate the motion during the worirspace experiments. Figures 5.10 through 5.15 show some exampIes h m the computer
simulation. Table 3.1 Iists the achiator lengths in cm useci in the simulation
tests and also the resulting end-efllitor coordinates. Even though egch of the
Figure 5.11: J-Shape Co&gwation
Figure 5.10: Home Configuratim
twelve actuators can extend aad antract up to & 7.62 cm, a f 4.0 to
mi extension wse
I 6.0
chosen for thie atpeRment, to allm for a safety mwgin.
Contracted
6.0
Extended
6.0
Positive X Reach
4.0
-4.0
Negative X Reach
J-Shape
-4.0/4.0
6.0
6.0
4.0
-4.0
-4.0/4.0
Table 5.1: Tkuss81111 Actuator Lengths in Wor68
Demonstration
Figure 5.12: Contracted Configuration Figure 5.13: Esttendeci Contiguration
Figure 5.14: Positive z Reach
Figure 5.18 Negative x R
n e series ofmotions illustrateci in Figures 5.10 through 5.15 were per-
formed with ?hiasarm at a rdatively low speed. The rnotor coordinates were
computed from the joint coordinates in Table 5.1. A set of DMC programs
were used to perform the experiments. Using the high-1evel control software
(refmed to as the 'hssarm Control Environment in Chapter 2) as an interfk

tool, the motor commmcls were exgnited for all twelve achiators simiiltan+
ously.
The following is an excerpt of the DMC programs for h
a r m workspace
tests:
Note that throughout the program, the DMC commans DT and CD are re
peatedly d.
These commands ere used for contour mode motions. The
contour mode results in smoother motion of the rxtanipuiator. The contour is
characterized by the pmition increments (CD) of ach actuator and the time
increments (M)between each point on the contour.
During the experiment it was obeerved th& as Thissarm reached the

edge of the workspace, the motion of the d p u l a t o r was sigdicantly ns
strained due to the structural limitation. It seem that the
on some mernbers c81lSed this problem. For example, in the Pmitive 2-Reach
configuration, actuator 3 was unda a very large lord. It was noted that at thie
point the ectiietor was, in fact, moving s l o w and in a jerky m m e r . When
the commandai joint length exceeded 6 cm, the motion of the actuator came
nearly to a stop.
Since the gravitational &ect is one of the most aignificant
factors on the stnictural limitation, the size of the fimctional workspace highly
depends on the design and &e of the actuatom
e the nonlinear bacteristics or backlash of the individuai ac-
tors m o t be modeleci quntitatidy at this tirne, it was clear that this uncertainty had a significant && on the performance of 'Lhtssarm. This result
auggests that 'Ihuiserm, or auy other 'Ihrsssrm-like VGT manipulatore, may
have 'functiod' workspace within its theoreticai workspace. For 'Ihuisarm,

this functiod workspace exteuds appraximataly 1.0 meters in radius and 0.5
meters in height.
Recall tbat in home configuration, 'hssarm is 1.9 meters
in Length.
The workspace of ' I h m m is comparable to that of conventiod induetrial manipulators. For a~csmple,PUMA761 is an example of a typical
industrial mruiipulator. As shuwn in Figure 5.16, PUMA761 is apprachatdy

1.5 meters in length and its workepace extends 1.2 meters in radius.
5.1.4
Controllable Workepace
So far, the workspace has been considered as a set of ali possible points in
space that may be reached by solving the forwatd kurematics, given the joint
coordinaixs. For a cornplexmsnipulator such as lkussam, it is not guasanteed
that every point in such eprce may be actudy reached when the invercur h
c
+
matics ie eolved. In fact, ody a suluet of points in the reacbable worirspace
.3 rn d u s
modd appl10BCh9)derai in Chapter 3. This m b e t of ~ ~ t k s p a cbseed

e
on
the eolution of the inkineaintia p bis & r d to as the mtmUab1e
worbpa' herq abce the po8timamtroi of the enddecfor is p d b l e oniy
within this
TheBl;edtba-lem-varbnrIthmeriyfactasmchse
redundancy ramiution ulpritam, joint limft and dqpkity avoichm md-
oda, and w m a c y in the kincrnetia model. The ratio be&ween controilable

workspa a d ieschable wotirspece may be ussd as a meseure of control algonthm.
Figure 5.17 &ors the cut 88ction of Thmaun's conhoIlable aorkspa
on the xt-plane (y = O). Note thst maqy pointa P the ICBBChBble workspace
are in contro11A)ileworbpsce. Haraves, there are pointa mmr the ege of the
Figure 5.17: 'Lhissarm Cooitrollable Workspace, xz-plane

reachable workspace that cannot be reached by the discrete mode1 approllch.
In Figure 5.17,5.18, and 5.19, 'oswee marked when the inseme kinematics was
succmstully s
0
1
d with joint coordinates nithin the joint limits, and k' was
marked d e n it failed. Apprcnchately 69 petcent of the r d b 1 e workspace

on the xz-planeis in the controlable workqacs.
The controllable workspace is mder when the cut section on q-plme

(r = 1.8 m) is considerd as shown in Figure 5.18. When z = 1.8 m, the
workspace qans approWmately 1.6 meters in the x- and y-directiom.
5.1.5
Reach Hierarchy Algorithm
In order to utilize the entire workspace, a control algorithm that makes use
of the workspace information needs to be implemented. One approach is the
regch
hierarchy algorithm, adopted fiom porein, 19851. An example of a
modified reached hierarchy *rithm
ie now given for n modules- The concept
of the reach hier8fdly algorithm is,

1.
F m , define the workqa ofchain i as Wi, where chim iconsist~of
Figure 5.18: Zhieerum Controllable Worlrspace, zyplane

modules i through n.
2.
If the deswd end4ectob position is not in Wi,

then halt immediately.
3. Otherwise, adjust module 1 enough to bring the g d point within W2.

4. Repeat the last step for each remeiaig chain, adjusting module i to
bring the goal point within Wi+l for = 2,3,. ..,n.
Figure 5.19 shows the amfrollable workspace siice at y = O, when the

reach hieraxchy algorithm is applied. Appmximately 92 percent of the r d able workspace can be reached wing this algorithm. Compared to 69 percent
in the discrete model approach, 23 percent increase ie obtained. The 8 percent

of the reachable workspace that can not be reached with reach hierarchy dg*
rithm may be reached if an exm% model of workepace is adable. As shown
in Figure 5.9, the woricsprrce d e l is only an approximation, thus dowing 8
Figure 5.19: Controilabie Worhpa with Reach Hierarchy Algorithm
5.2
5.2.1
Dexterity Analysis
Definition
One of the advantages of aredudant rnanipdator is its dexterity. The concept

of dexterty c m be interprated in several ways. hr example, a commonly
accepted physicai concept is one's ability to use one's hands, one's body or
even one's mind. In robotiee, dexterity has been interpreted as a spdcation

of the kinematic or dynamic response of a manipulator p ' w a ,19851. A
similm concept has ben referred to as 'manipulabity.' In thie dissertation,
we adopt the dennition of daxterity by Park and BlOckett (1994). Dexterity
is Uthe ability to m m a d apply forces in arbitrary directions as easily as

possible.'' As impiied in tbe definition, dexterity can be considered in both its
kinematic aspecta and in its dynamic aspects. The focus here rernahs on the
kinemtic aspects of dexterity.
In bernatic control, dexterity measument may be used to determine

optimal 'working position' for the manipulator, or to find the 'optimal posture'
for a given end-effector position and/or orientation.
In this section, examples
for both applications are discusged.
Dexterity Measurement
5.2.2
A survey of methods to quantitatively represent local dexteriw was conducteci
by Klein and Blaho (1987).
F i ,Ymhikawa (1-a)
measmeci local dexterity
by the detaminrrnt of JJT:

1i = Jdet(JJT)
(5.3)
When q a p p r d e s zero, the configuration of the manipulator is cansidered

to be close to the singulatity.
Second, the condition number of the transpose of the Jecobian, c ( P )

was used as a measure of workspace qwdity [Saiisbury and Craig, 19821, [Gos-
selin, 19901:
w h e .,
o
and a ~ ste
n the largest and s d m t singular d u e s of the system
Jacobian matrix. Thie is a memue of the eccuracy with which forces can be
exerted. [Ybshikawa, 1985a] The optimal value for this memurement is 1.
Third, the minimum slgular value, u d was also wed as the measme of
nearness to the ainpuienty [Klein and Blaho,
lm. The singularity is marked
by the niinim~un
singular value approaching zero.
Finally, joint range availabity was used by Liegeois (1977):
where q: is the center of the range of each actuator. This method provides
the 'naturalness' or 'evenness' of the manipdator'e posture [Klein and Blaho,

19871.
In order to compare these me88uTeB of local dexterity, two simple joint

trajectorks were chosen for 'lhuisarm, The residting end-effector trajectories
are a c u v e on the XI-piane and a straight iine almg the z-mis. A simulation
test was petfiormeci dong these trajectories and fow d u e s (q, c, o-
and E )
were dculate dong the trajectory.

As shown in Figuree 5.20 and 5.21, the variation in these memures is
si@c811t.
Klein and Blaho conducted similar experiments and concluded
that "it is not pomible to condude that one is superior to the others since the
measuns have slightly dineient purp088?
In general, the Lesults suggest that the dexterous workspace of 'Ihiesarm

at the center of its worhpace. Hem, 'IhiaeMn ie in the straight poehire with
very 4 changea in actuator lengths. Therefore, Ihissarm is capable of

perfonning more dexhous tasks in thk area.
In addition to the determination of the dextrous areas in the workspace,

dexterity may be also u d 8s a ddgn criterion or to select the optimal (or
the mt natual) partuFa for a given endleffectorposition and/or orientation.

Figure 5.22 through 5.25 show four distinct pamirer of 'Ikuesarm, h m which
the end-efll'tor can be located at (0,0,1.85) m. Postures 1 and 2 are with

constent positive and negative curvature. Posture 3 is when the changes in
actuator Iengths are equai throughout d four modules. Poeture 4 is when the
iength change of actiiators in module 1 are maximized and the otha modides
remain unmodifieci. J h t e r i t y Me88u~ementsat four postures are shown in
Figure 5.26. These measurements suggest that the second poshire is the mo&
nafural posture with hi-
dexteriw-
Danlll-h=-glrn+
..
:::;:::;....;:;::::::;..::::::::;;.:;::::::.:::::::::
..........................................................................................
................................
*
.....................
. ...\.
: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .: . . . . . . . .i .................. :. ........ :. . . . . . . :..........
iiiii!:il~~ii!lfi!iti!i!fi!tfi2i!!i!ii!iii
:LI:
..........Li.........
: I .: :.: .:i l:.
a i r -
..S....,..........
...,,
: .: . . . :. . :. ;: :. . : .:i
......................
..........
. . . . . . . . ..........
. .- . . . .
.........
L...
......
\.
..........
....:
....................
. - . . .........
...............
......................
........ ,. . . . . . . . . . .
S . . . . . . . . ,
Figue 5.20: Dexterity Memures along a curve (xz-plane)
Figure 5.21: Dexterity Memues dong a straight line (2-axi9)
Figure 5.22: Posture 1
Figure 5 . a Dexterity Measures et Pture 1,2,3 and 4
It should be noted that the measurements were made with the @vaient k e t e mode1 approach, d i s c d in Chapter 3 and 4. Thus the result refiects the micmecopic geometry of the gimbal modules, rather than the
'Ihisecum moddeg. In order to accurately meiiaure the dexterity of 'hmwm
modules, exact kinematics shodd be applied.
5.3
5.3.1
Repeatability Analysis
Definition
Next, the repeatability of 'Ihisrrarm is examineci. The repeatability of a manip

dator is a measure ofhow preasely the end-effectorcan be located, repeatedly.
5.3.2
Repeatability Measurement Method
In order to measure the repeatabiiiw, a very fine pen was meci as a tool.
A white board was set up such that pen tip wodd touch the surface only
when it cornes to a stop aRer the motion. Unf~rtmately~
due to the stnicturd
vibration, short trams of the tool path were marked on some of the teet results.
While cornputhg repeatability, these t r a m cf the end-effector were ignored.

See Figure 5.27.
T h s a m was moved 6rom ib home configuration to a test pdtion and

back to the home configuration.
The motion was repeated 10 timea for three
test points. The result wee scannai and the radius R of the c i d e aurrounding
the scattered points memureci. The test points used are shonn in Table 5.2.
w2
Test 3
'
io,i5,0
10.10.10
0.11 cm'
0.10 cm
Table 5.2: Te& Points Use in Repeatability Analysis
In order to measure the repeatability of the manipulator more accurately, a better method to locate the end4ector tip position is desireci. For
hitute referen, three-dimewioonal position emor or a vision system are recornmended*
5.3.3
Trussarm Repeatability
Based on the method used, it may be concludeci that Thissarmtsrepeatability

is 1.4 mm. In other words, 'IhiseMn is capable of moving its end4ector to
a Qven location with 1.4 mm preaeion.
i 5.3,5.29 and 5.30 ahow the
Figure 5.27 Satup for Repeatability A d @
Figure 5.28: Repeatability Teet Result 1
Figure 5.29: Repeatab'ility Test Remit 2
simple &ta
b m th-
tests.
On wmpMson, the repestabity of the PUMA 1W seria manipub
tom L M.2 mm. The repeatability of A645 manipulator (deeigned by CRS
Figure 5.30: Repeatab'ity Te& M t 3
5.4
Speed Analysis
5.4.1
Actuator Speed
As explaineci in Chapter 2, lkussann's actuaton, are independent lin-
(traas-
lational) actuators. Each is driven by a DC motor and a gear reduction as-
sembly. The motors are rated at 6,500 RPM (machuni speed with no load).
However, amplifiers that supply the power to the motors Lmit the actuator
speed to 2,925 RPM. Since quadrature encoders output 4 counts per motor
rotation, 2,925 PRM conesponds to 4 x 2,925 = 37,440 counts/sec. This
speed has been used as a guidaline for the rmuchum ectuator speed. 37,400
counts/sec comesponds to apprahatdy 1.4, 2.6, 2.1 and 1.4 cm/= for ac-
tuators in Module8 1,2,3 and 4, respectively.
5.4.2
Tip Speed
Once the m8Icimum actuator speeds are determineci, the maximum tip speed
can be either caidated using the forward kinematics mode1 or measured ex-
perimentally. End4ectOr (a pen at k(4.15, 0.28,O)m) paition is (-0.15,

0.28, 1.675) and (-0.15,0.28, 2.109) m when all actu8tors are extendeci and
retracted to 80 petcent of their mBMmum/ minimum extension (6 cm and -6
cm,respectively), This vertical distance of 43.4 cm nie used as a test path.

At the d o m joint speed of 0.5 cm/s, a 43.4 cm path can be traced at the
rate of 43.4 cm /(12 cm / 0.5 cm/s) = 1.8 cm/s. Or, at 1.4 cm/s joint speed,
5.0 cm/$tip speed may be achieved.
For a horizontal path, a straight lre fiom (0,0,0) to (20,0,0) cm waa

med, as shown in Figure 5.31. With a tool vector, t = (-15,28,0) cm, an end-
efkctor poeition of (20, O, O) cm can be achieve with the motor coordinates
p --j-- 2.1 cm
2.0 cm
L.J
,
Figure 5.31: Vibration Durhg Acceleration and Deceleration

shown in Table 5.3. The maximum joint speed is iimited by actuator 3 to
Table 5.3: Teet Points Used in Sped Analysis
36,432137,440 r~ 1 sec. Thue, the maximum tip speed for horizontal motian
is 20 cm pet 1 sec = 20 cm/s.

It should be noted that at this speed, st~cfuralvibration becornes
evident during the d e r a t i o n and deceleration phases. This can be eeen in
Figure 5.31 which is a scanneci image of the two end points of the horizontal
teet
trajectory. It may be o b e m d that the encEeffector m m almat f1.0
cm when acce1erating and dderating.
A more standard teet in robotics for speed evaiuation is the '12-inch

pick-and-place' maneuver. 'Ihuisarm is capable of this pick-and-place maneuver in many directions.
For test purposes, the t
h easiest paths were chosen:
a 12-inch path dong the x-, y- and z-axes. The maneuver is as follows: starth
kom the home poeition @,O),

1. Move to the leR by 6 inchm, (-6,O)
Figure 5.32: The 12-inch Pick-and-Place Maneuver
2. Move d o m by 1 inch, (-6,-
1)
3. Move up by 1 inch, (-6,0)
4. Move to the right by 12 inch-, (6,O)

5.
M m d m hy 1 inch, (6,-1)
6. Mave up by 1 inch, @,O)

7. Mme back to the home poeition, (0,O)
In total, the end-etlbctor path is 28 inches (n.1cm),as ehown in Figure 5.32.

Throughout the seria ofpick-and-p1a maneuvers, the maneuver times
were determined. The sample r
d t s are s h m in Table 5.4. The vertical and
l h i z ~ speed,
~ d fi Vertid Speed, V. Total T i e , & ,
x-8Xi8
16.9 cm/s
3.2 an/s
6.8 seconds
y-axis
z-axk
16.9 cm/s
3.2 cm/s
6.8 seconds
13.5 cm/s
20.0 seconds
3.2
Table 5.4: 12-inch Pi&-And-Place Test Mts

horizontai speeds are speeds of the end-effector dong paths 1, 4, 7 and.2,3,
5, 6. The total tirne, ttd in Table 5.4 corresponds to:
in conclusion, the maximum tip speed of'Ihissarmis 20 cm/s in horizo11ta1motion, and 5 cm/s in vertical motion. 'Ihuniarm is capable of perfo-g
standard 12-inrb pi&-and-place maneuver in less than 7 seconds horizontdy,

or 20 seconds vertidy.
It appeare that h a r m is at dissdvantage in speed when compaied
to conventional manipulators. The maximum hem tip speeds of both the
PUMA 700 series robots and A465 are 1.0 m/s.
5.5
5.5.1
Accuracy Analysis
Definition
The aawacy of a manipulator is a me-
of how accurately the manipulator
can be directed to a given Caztmian point or trajectory within its workspace.
F M , the eccuracy of?hissMn under kinematic control derived in Chaptg

3 is considered. The poeition accuracy and trsdring accuracy are examineci
separately. Next, the mlved-motion-rate control, d e r i d in Chapter 4, is
applied and the d t i n g accutacy is d d 8 t e d .
It is noted that the accuracy of a manipulator highly depend on the

configuration of the mruiipulatot, and thdore, the aample resdts presented
here only provides a foumlation for hirther reeeerch.
5.5.2
Position Control
A set of desired joint trajectories was generated and applied to Thssarm,
and the paeition of the end-efFector was recorded, using a pen as a tool. The
setup is shown in Figure 5.27. The forwad kinematics was solved to compute
the Cartesian amdinates of the end-effector that correspondeci to the desired
joint coordinates. Then, the results from forward kinematics and the a c t d
location of the pen were cornparrd to compute the error in poeitioning.
Samples of the experimental data in [cm]

are shown in Table 5.5. where
Sample4-, 9.4
O
Sample 5
19.1
Sample 6
--
-.
O
14.1
O
10.1
0.2
0.1
10.0
O
20.0
O 10.0
O
15.0
O
O
4.2
6.1
4.5
Table 5.5: Sample Experimental Data for Position Accuracy Andyeie
P
. = (xa,h,za) is the actuai pen paeition and Pd = (xd,M,Y) is the deeired
Cartesian coordinates. The position error, (bP,I is d&ed es:
It was found that the position error was dway < 6 %. Note that the paeition
error also includes the measurement error.
5.5.3
Kinematic (Tkacking) Control
Two types of Cartesian trajectories were chmm to determine the trackiog

8Cm8Cy-
Figure 5.33: Square 'Eajectory in Acwacy Analysis

0
A square, 10 cm to the side

A &de, 10 cm in radius
Startmg at the home pition, the Pen wae moved to the upper lefk corner of
the zz-plane, (-5.0, 0, -5.0) cm,then the wume was t r d clockwise. See
Figure 5.33. The speed of the pen was ch-
to be 1.25 cm/$.The r d t from
the test conducted with Modulee 3 and 4 only is shown m Figure 5.34. Figure
5.35 shows the configuration d the backbone c m whik tradring a square
with 2 modules. The pedonnance appears to be vexy g d in the zdirection,
whe theze ie a 2 mm diacrepancy in x.
The next test foiiowed the same trajectory as the h

t test, except that
ali
ffouf
modules participatecl in thh test. Figure 5.38 shuws the resulting
trajtxtory of the pen. The tracking error increased from 2% to 2.7%. Similm
r d t s were obgerve in the cnilar trajectory, shcswn in Figure 5.39.
The tracking error inmemes when the square is drirwn on the zyplane.
The tesults are shuwn in F i p 5.37. It se-
that the poeition of the tod
Figure 5.34: 'Iiacking Aamacy M y s i e : Square 'Ikajectory, n=2, xz-plane
Figure 5.35: Configuration of 'Ihissarm. Square 'Iirajjectry, n=2, xz-plane
Figure 5.36: Configuration of Tniesarm: Square 'Ikajectory, n=4, zy-plane
Figure 5.37 lhcking A C C U IAnalyeis:

:~
Square 'Prajectory,n=4, xg-plane
(pen, t = (-0.15,0.28,0)
t and
cm)has much more d e c t on tracking accuracy in the
y- directions than in the z-direction. 'Itacing a qyare on the xy-plane
is shown in Figure 5.36.
On average, tracking enor in the z-direction is d e r than in either x

or y directions. The tracking mors are approximately WOvertidy and
horizontally. The wuet case ie when tracking a path on a horizontal surhm
a tracking m r as large as 11% has been observed.

An exeerpt of the DMC progr- for fracking a square on the zz-plane
is shown below:
PA i8 the abdute position commsnd, aid SP is the command to set the joint
speed. As shown in the ibuve DMC progam, both speed and poaition at eech
control point dong the trajecfory was specified to ensure the ~ m o o t hmotion
betwean points. A very simple appMWm8tion was utilized to cornpute the
speed of each joint.
Atter solring the inverse kinematics to calculate the d e
&ed joint coadinrrtes, the differeaces betweendesired mordinatm and curent
coordinates rere computed. The speed of each actuator was appmximated as
for i = 1,2,.
.. ,12 and AT is the constant t h e takm betcneen two poia,ts on
a path. To msitain 1.25 cm/s tip speed, AT was set to be 4 seconds, when
8 control points were useci.

Note that the control scheme introduced here 8ssumes infinite acceler-
ation and negative infinite deceleration in the joint motion. In ptwtice, ody
a constant 8cceleration and deceleration may be applied. In other words, the

trapezoidal speed profile was implemented through the s e m (inner) control.
In addition tu the trapezoidal pronle, Salimen (1994) also considered kimguiar and sinmicial velocity profiles for velocity control of anissarm Mark 1.
However, since the d e r a t i o n of Ihisearmactuatorsis &ciently hi& (maximum d e r a t i o n hae been ratecl at 2.7 cm/$),
the d e c t ofpmt d e r a t i o n
on performance was considered negligible.
5.5.4
On-Line Cartesian Control
It shouid be noted that, up to this point in this M t i o n , al the dculatiom

were perfomied o f f h e in the MATLAB environment patic, 19921.
The next
set of experhents invoived Certeeiaa control with on-line mmputation. In
other wotds, the same d d a t i o n e fot fo-d
and inverse kinematics were
pedorme in reaEtime uaing the IhiesarmControl Environment software.
In order to implement rd-time contr01, a few commands were added to

the exhting DMC commands, listed in Table 5.6. When th-
commlrnds axe
issued by the operator, the lhursaan Control Environment s o k e takm the

necessary input from both 'Ihtesarm and the user input b&e
undataking
a series of actions. For exampIe, when the command WR is iseued, the controuer first sen& TP command (a DMC cammand to retrieve the current motor
counts) and, b&
on the the tesponse it ieceives kom the DMC boards, it
TW
1 tell the current mrld amdinates (aesuming no end.ector displacement)

(desired) world abdute coordinates : x,y,z,%, n,
(desired) world reiative coordinates : 6~~6y, 62
tell the current orientation : #(yaw), $(pitch), @(roll)
(desired) absolute orientation : $(yaw),$(pitch), @(roll)
(daireci) relative orientation : b4,641i, 68
(desired) world absolute coordinrites without orientation constraints
(desired) world relative coordinates without orientation constraints
Table 5.6: DMC Commands for Carteaian Kinematic Control
solves for the forwsrd kinematics to determine the culc~entword coordinates.

Then, it proceeds to add the curnmanded relative coordinates in ader to cornpute the deeired coordinates. Third, the i n . k i n d c 8 is aolved to Bnd
joint coordinates. The joint limits are de0 cbedred at tbie stage. Finally, the
appropriate tr8flSmi88ion raticm are applied to the joint ooordinates to cornpute
the motor coordinates and thia new aet of motor coruitn is sent off to DMC
boards using a DMC cornniand, PA.
The experiments iscwed in Section 5.5.2 were cepeated using Carte

Sian control commande and the aame d t s as in Table 5.5 were obtained.
5.5.5
Velocity Tkacking Control
The ptoblem addressed in thb section is to track the end-effector velocity of

h a r m . The resolved motion rate contrai, derived in Chaptet 4, is applied.
In some applications of velocity tracking control, the dtimate goal is to achieve
an end-effector position, ratha than velocity. In such casee, a position regub
tor or dead-rebning needs to be emplqed in addition to the resolved motion
rate contzol. The implementation of the dead-reckoning is beyand the scope
of t h dissertstion, and thue ir mt coneidered here.
The same cirdar trajectory used in the tracking control experiments

is used here again. Note that a point on a circle, &, for O 5 i 5 nt, may be
where
is the number of trajectory points on the &de, O 5 Q(=
5 )5 27r1
p, is the position vector of the center of the chde, r is the radius of the circle,
and % denotes the orientation of the plane on wbich the circle lies. For
example, the &de used in tndchg mntrol on -plane
may be created with
pc = (0,0,1.9345), r = 0.1 meters, and R, = L The direction normal fi, is

&[O
o ilT.
and Ree = (0,0,1) where
2 is the angular speed of the end4ector around
the circular trajectory. Foi example, if it

trajectory, $ =
40 seconds to complete the
[rad/sec].
Several simulation te&s wem performed with various nt and some examples with r = 0.4rn, and p, = (O,0,1.75),are shown in Figures 5.40 and 5.41.
The solid line in the figures repreent the desired tmjectory, zee,obtained by
for & = zO.It was sssumed that the speed of the eed-eEector19, is constant
and e q d to 1 rad/sec in dl simulations reported h a .
O',QI
fAa'
Figure 5.40: Velocity 'RrdMg Control Simulation Results,
= 20
Figure 5.41: Velocity 'fircidring Control Simuiation Results, Q = Loo0
Figure 5.42: Second norm of the ermr W. number of trajectory pointe
The dotted lines are the r d t of the simulateci resolved motion rate
control. The initial conQuration, cf, was caldateci by configuration optimization as diScutseci in Chapter 2. The joint velmities q' was calcdated as
d d b e d in Section 4.1, Le.,
where v. is defined in eq.(4.11) as
Then, the a p p r h a t e end48Ctor trajectory95,was CalCUIBted as
Comparing Figure 5.40 and 5.41, it may be noted that, as nt increases,
the error between 12,and jt,dm-.
The simulation tests were Morxned
with ne = 20, 50, 100, 150, 200, and 1000, and the nom of the errors are
plotted againet
in Figure 5.42. Rom this figure, it can be concluded that
in velocity tracking control, disctepancy in end-eE8ctot pmition is signi6cant

and reletively small step in trajectory would lead to higher accuracy.
The veiocity trackjng control was implemented on 'Ihissannusing DMC

programs. An excerpt k m an example is shown below:
In thb
test, actuator velocity was
docity,
gigivea
where &O = ,(O),
cdcul8ted beeed on deaired end-efF"tor
by eq.(5.10). The actua!or position wae apprdnated as
solved by inverse I<iiiemetice,and
Ji is the Jacobian mat& of the jth module and 4 is the 3 x 3 identity matrix.
See eq.(4.1 1) for definitions of W
;'
and i>,.
As predicted h the simulation, the test r d t e d in signiscant error in
end-effector pasition. An example shom in Figure 5.43 was pertormed with 4
modules, on the zz-plane, nt = 50 and 9 = 5 r a d l e , ot, end-&ector veiocity

of 1.57 cm/asc. The te& was repeated fwt times and it is shown that position
error amundates uxxier velocity contrd.
Figure 5.43: Velocity Thcking Control, n( = 50, zz-plme
Chapter 6
Control System Design

As demonstrateci in Chapter 5, tracking acmiracy of Ihissarmis poor in mrne
trajectories. In order to improve the performance d kinemzltic control, a
simple, yet efbctive feedback contrai strategy is pro&
for tracking control.
6.1 Control Design

The propmed control system comists of two layers of control: mame control
and fine poeitioning ccmtrol.
The awse confrol algorithm is nimply to apply the in-
kinematics
algorithm, d e r i d in Chapta 3, as it wm done in Section 5.5. Because f

d-
back is of joint coordinates and not of end-effector's Cartesian coordinates,

this conttol acheme alone can achieve only coarse positioning.
The fine positioning is based on the global-fa*
h m Cartesian
position sensors. The fdback law is derived by considering the system Je
cobian at intermediate con6yations dong the deellai trajectory. After the

end-effector is pasitioned dose to its deaired position uimg coarse positioning,
sensors coUect feedback idormation regerding its actual position. The Mer-
ence between the actual Cartesian coordinates, 9and desireci coordinates, v,

is then caicdated:
Recall that the size of v is qua1 to the niunber of kinernatic constraints, m
B a d on eq.(4.9), 6ve ie then defineci.
We pre-mdtiply bu, by the aystem Jacobian matrix to yield the change in
joint coordinatea, 6):
Note that the system Jlicobian matrix Jzlend W

;' have been develope in
Chapter 4. Finally9the joint coordinates are adjuatod accordingiy:
The performance may be imp~uvecleven M

e
r by applying the feedback
control iteratidy. A A diagram for this augnented control sdieme is
shown in Figure 6.l(i).
6.2
Simulation Test
The simulation software was modifieci to implemmt the proposed contrd

method. First, a linear mor mode1 was added to the forward kinematics
to generate the Cartesjan coordinates th& are War to the actual coordinates.
This algorithm ia r d d to w a 'hsmrm model h e m i d k . The
Figure 6.1: Augmented Kinematic Conho1 Algorithm
Figure 6.2: &or obtained fiom the Simulation of Cl&-Loop

lkajectory, -2,
Control, Square
$2-plane
l h s s a m mode1 was based on the seriee of data collected hom the pwious
experiments.
The same trajectories (circular and square paths) use in accmacy analysis were usai for c i d l o o p control again. A eolid line in Figure 6.3 and 6.4
repreaents the enddectar trajectory, when only the coerse poeitioning is

applied. A dotted line iil the desireci trajectory, w, and the dashed line is
the trajectory when cid-Ioop cont~11

is applied. The improvement in the
treckuig accuracy is si@cant.
in m
For example, the maximum tracking error
e trajectory is 1.3 mm for coanie control only. When fine control is
appiied aclditioxdly, tracking error is reduced to 0.2 mm.
In order to represait the tradMg perlorrnance more quantitatiively, the

discrepancy in end-&&or position, bu, was calculateci throughout the tr*
jectory. Then, the second nom of t
b value for the entire trajectory was
computed.
The result is shown for square trajectory in Figure 6.2. The
second n o m of traclring errer is plotted against the number of tirna fine p+

sitioning is applied in F
i 6.5.
Figure 6.3: Simulation Results fiom Cid-Loop Control, Square 'Ikajectory,

-2, xz-plane
Figure 6.4: Simulation Resirlts h m Closed-Loop Control, Cirdar 'hjectory,

n=2, xz-plaue
Figure 6.5: Tkacking Emr w. Number of Iteration around Fine Positionhg

Control
6.3 Implementation
At the time of writing, a global eenaor was not avsilable. Thus, the proposed
method was modiiied to calculate the actual Ihiaeerm end-efectotpition,

3, usingthe 'IhucBarm model, ineteed of meaeuring with enmm. Figure 6.1(ii)
shows the architecture for the control method. Figure 6.l(iii) shows how the
fine pdtioning mntrol
aui
be applied repeatedly in order to imprwe the
pedofmaince.
Due to the stmcturai hilue on module 2, only modules 3 and 4 were
ueed fa the cId-1oop control tests. Since a 10 cm ciradar trajectory c m

not be ad&
with two modules,the circular trajectory waa reduced in ite
size to the radiw of r=5 cm. Figures 6.6 and 6.7 show the simple resuits from
the experiments. &th trajectorim wera on xz-plane, drawn with modules 3

and 4 at constant tip speed of 1.25 cm/s.
Figure 6.6: Wts lrom Cloeed-bop Control, Square Ifajectory, n=2, xzplane
Figure 6.7: Results fiom C I d - h o p Control, Circular 'Praject~ry~

n=2, xzplane
Chapter 7
Conclusion
7.1 Final &marks
In th* work, a number of bues regarding the contrd characteristics of 'Pnieeemi
- a LZDOF VGT manpulator -were examine&

Finit, the hematics was deRved by adopthg a discrete mode1 a p
proach. The geometry of earh module was represented by a 3-DOF gimbal. A
gimbal coneisCs of one universai remlute joint, which pruvide two rotationai
degrecs of aeedom, 8 siid 4, and a coupled prismatic joint, 1. The macm
scopic geometry is than repremnted by a series of 3-DOF gimbal mduiee,
Redundmcy was resolvd uaing a confgu.ration optimization technique and

a procedure for s01ving kinematics was described. The forward and inverse
kinematics of a module were a h tevisiteci. A sixnilm app10BCh wae taken to
derive a kinematics mode1 at the veocity levei.
A benefit of the proposeci method is that it rnodeis a complex VGT

manipulatot as kinematically quivalent to, yet much simpler than, a serial
manipulator with a simple mathematicai presentation. The kinematics of the
equivalent gimbal mechluiiam is phyeidy merninghil and can be easiiy inter-
preted. For example, a 9 of zero de-
(rotation about x-axis) implics that
the end-effector position is on the xz-plane. The positive and negative 4 (r*
tation about the y-axis) cames an end-effector motion in either the negative
or positive xdirection. On the other hand, the relation between the motion
of the end-eff'tor and the lengths of the actuators is nonlinear end c m not
be described simply.
This mdhod can be applied to any VGT manipulator whose module

can be modelecl as a 3 DOF gimbal. If a VGT module hs more than 3DOF or
is not symmetric about the mid-plane, its geometry can not be represented by
a -bal
module with a coupled priamatic joint. Howeuer, a eimilsr technique
may be applied using a gimba module with more d
m of freedom, or even
a different mnfiguration.
Whai compered to otba methode, the iscrete m d e i approach shares

many advantaga of configuration control techniques The metho is well
mited for paraiiel processing techniques. The mode1 can be eady extended
in order to hande joint Mt amidance; and, the madel can be also used for
other types of VGT manipuhtocs.
In Chapter 5, the ckllcteristics of l h s s a m were examineci. The

workepace of 'Ihieeanri was represente ueing extensh methcd and eareep
h g method A new concept of controilable workspsce, a subset of points
in the reachable workspace that can be reached by the inverse kinematica

algorithm, was intduce. Using the p r o p d kinematic~d e l , the controllable wotkqace encompamws aimost 70% of the reachable workqace of
Zhisaerm. Baeed on the infixmation on the 'Ihissannrorkqa, a R e d Hierarchy Algorithm nae applied to miuimire the controaable workepace- With
this dgoilithrn, ova 90% of the reschabIe workspa rra contrdlable.
The dexterity of 'Russarm was munineci using four methods. Tests of

repeatabilty indicated a 1 mm varhbility- The speed analysis showed t h t
Tiussamn's maximum tip speed is 5 and 20 cm/s verticaliy and horizontally.

Fiirthermore, 'hss'~hiesarmh capable of perfonning a standard 12-inch pi&-andplace maneuver in less t h 7 seconds horizontdly,of lem than 20 seconde for
a verticai maneuver.
Positioning mors of about 6%and tracking mors of about
to 7 %
were observed when kieematic control waa applied. In order to improve the
tracking mors, a
control method was applied.
The present documentation provides a framework for future -ch

the d a g n and control aVGT manipulators for pmtical applicatians.
on
The
expetiaients d d b e d in this dissertation provide means to meeeure qualities

of VGT mruiipdators in order to compare them with the conventid indw
trial manipulatom Evei though the current 'hssarm is a laboratory model,
desjlgned for -ch
purposes only, the characteristics of 'Ihuieasm found in
this documentation show the promising future in the areas of manufiwturing
and automation. The r d t s obtained from this work may be used to explore
the industrial applications of '2hiseann and other VGT manipulators.
7.2
Contributions
1. The kinematics of'Ihissarm were derived by adopting a dismete model

8ppr0aCh.
2. Analyticai solutions to Thssarm Merentid kinematics was deriveci.

3. A joinblimit avoidance algorithm was implemented.
4. The woricepace of lhrssmm was modeled.
5. The amtrollable workpscice of

6.
was defined.
An algorithm to mmchhe the workspace was applied.
7. The dextenty of Zhissarm was computed.

8. The tip speed of Ihissarmwas m
d .
9. The positionhg and trecking accuracy of 'Ihiss81~1

under the kinematic
control were determineci.
10. A cld-loop control algorithm to improve the traclring accuracy was
desi@
and the performance was verifid experimentally.
7.3 Fhture Work

W
e thie dissertation provides grounds for industrial implementation for
'Ihissarm technology, there are still many areas of research that may be purmed for hiture improvement in Ihiseannpesformance. A few suggestions are
made here.
F M y , se demo~stratedin this dissertation, the prototype h m

requkea much impt~vementin mecimnid design to minimhe the 'slop' in its
joints.
secondy, in i n p t e r 5 the dexterity of 'Ihissarm was considered in 8
local sense. Park and Bloclrett (1994) also examineci the mathematical representation of the dexterity of a d p d a t o r m global sense. The global dexterity, or overall dexterity, can be used as a design criterion. Howewr, to
represent the o v d dexterity mathematically ie a chdenging problern since
the megeuranent shodd not depend on the choi of the coordinates, or the
size of the manipulator. In addition, a mathematical desxiption of the m&
nipulatorts workspace should be adable. In future, the global dexteri~of

'Iht58arm may be examineci in order to improve the design of the manipuiator.
Thirdly, the r d t s of the experiments =est
that feedback control
would improve the accufacy of Thssarm. M h e r investigationin the selection

of position S~I~SOTS
is recomrnended.
Lastly, in order to achieve a higher lwel of performance in robotic mrmnipulation, it is eesential to consider d p u l a t o r dynamics. This is especidy
tew in applications that involve precision force interaction with the environ-
ment,or that involve high-epeed motion. 'Ihissam dynamics have been considered by the author [Lee and Zsnganeh,l997].The next step would validate
and imprm the propoeed 'Ihuruum dynIuaic8 modd using the a c t d joint
and force sensor data fkom aiurieaipl.
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Appendix A
An Example of a Contrained
Optimization Problem
Before we iscuss an example of the constrained opthhation problem, let
us consider the nature of the inequality constrainta. Th-
minimum are &ive ineqdty constraints, while the 0th-
which alter the

are inocthe.
For a system of order r , with m inquality constraints, &(x) Ibi,

the solution of the minimhtion problem sathfies the Kuhn-Tcker o p t W t y
condition:
for j = l ,... ,r,with yandxahsubject to
for = 1, ... ,m. Equatiom (A.1) and (A.2) consist of i +rn equations. In eq.
(A.2), ho-,
we cannot predict which eqyatiom are right. If the constraint
is active, &(x)
< bi, othecwise, gi 2 O. To demonstrate the comp1e1cityof the
problem, let us examine a system with two variables, X I and 2 2 , and with -0
constraints, xi 5 bl and q 5 62. The objective hinction, is
Let us also define Lagrangian multipliers y1 and y2. Then, the problem is to
find X I and XQ such that
whese
There are four istinct cases: (1) bi > O,b2 > O, (2) bl > O,
h > O, and (4) bl c O,
c O, (3) q < 0,
c 0.
Case 1
-
Bath inequaiity constrainta are inactive. Therefbre, n = O and ~2 = 0.
merdore, xi = O, q = 0, and the optimal value for Z is F = 0.
The first inequality coostraint is inactive; the second is active. Therefore,
= O and yl > O. Moremer,
(A.9)
(A. 10)
(A*11)
T b ,x1 =O, q = q ,rnz-252
>O, m d Z * = b i .
Case 3
The nrst inequality constraint is active; the second is inactive. Therefore, y1 > O and a = O. In this caee, we have
(A.13)
(A.14)
Hence, XI = bl, q = O , y1 = -2bi > 0, and Z* = b;.
Case 4
Both consttaints are active. Thesefore, ,y1 > O, yz > O and
aL =
-
2 ~ ~ + ~ = 0
(A.15)
hl
dL
0x2
= 2x2+m=O
OL
-
XI-bi
aL
-
X2
hl
asri
-b
(A. 16)
(A.17)
(A.18)
In generai, for a system with m inequaity constraints, P combinations

are required to be examineci.
A gwd algorithm f'inds the right combination
without trying them ail. For large m, the p b l e m is still difficult to compute
in rd-time no matter han "good" the algorithm is. The joint-Et avoida n problem preeented in Section 3.3 incorporates 12 ineqdty constraints,
yielding 212= 4098 combinations to consider!

Gimbal Modeling

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Kinematic Conti01 Experiments with Tkussarm,

a Variable-Geomet ry-Ti:uss Manipulator

A thesis submitted in coaformity with the requirements

@Copyright by Regina Sim-Kyimg Lee, 2000

The author has grauted a nonexclusive licence ailowing the

L'auteur a accord une licence non

The author retains ownership of the

L'auteur conserve la proprit du

thesis nor substantial extracts f3om it

constriicted at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerpace StiHes. The

objective of this dissertation is to examine this new technoIogy to determine

In order to examine the kinemat-

ics properties of Thia9ann,a kinematics model is developed. An algorithm

model (a serial open chah of simple 3-DOF gimbal modules) is presented.

Redundancy resolution based on the quivalent discrete mdel is developed,

'Pnissarm including workspace, dexterity, speed, and tracking accuracy, are

the control pedormance of 'lhissarm. The experimental results suggest that

pommsee many advantages over conventional manipulators although

of this work. Much of the work on the kinematics developrnent in Chapters 3

and 4 is the r d t of conversations with Dr. Kourosh Zanganeh. He patiently

Much of the work on the design of Ihissarm was also providecl

by many previous students, including Stephen Oikawa and Roger Hertz. A b ,

to Andrew Allen for proofkacihg pette of this document.

1 a h would B e to acknowledge the Naturel Science and Engineering

Research Councii (NSERC),ISIS (now CresTech), University of Toronto, and

Dynacon Inc. for hancial support duting rny doctoral progm.

1.4.1 Kinematics Analysis of Hyper-Redundant VGT

Design of and Ekperiments with VGT Manipulators . .

1.4.3 Kinematia Analpis of 'Zhissarm

2.1 Actuators and Senromechanianis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2.3 Tnissarm Control Environment (TCE) . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3-DOF Extensible Gimbai Module . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

3.1 Kinematics of an Equivaient DDiactete Model

Chain of Gimbal Modules

Chapter 4 Dinerential Kinematics

4.1 Resolveci Motion Rate Control

4.2 Jacobian Matrix and Hessian

4.3 Dinerential Kinematics of a Twmum Module

Chapter 5 Paformmce Measurements

5.2 Dexterity Analysis

5.5 Accmwy Anal@

Chapter 6 Contcol System Design

6.1 Control Design

7.1 FinalRemarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Appendix A An Example of a Contrained Optimization Probleml2l

A Discrete Morphology Hyper-reduudant Manipuiator Caltech

Tapered Two-bay OctahedraI-QCt&edral VGT at NASA LRC

3-DOF extensible @bal module

Thissarm Workspace by S w i n g Method. xz-plane . . . . . .

5.2 'Ihisearm Workspace by J3xtmsion Method. zz-plane

5.10 Home Cod&uration

5.11 J-Shape Coafiguration

5.17 Ihisearm Controllable Workspace, xz-plane

with Reach Hierarchy Algorithm

5.20 Dexterity Measma dong a c w e (xz-plane)

5.34 'Pradcing Accuracy A d p i s = Square Qajectory, n=2, xz-plane

5.35 Configuration of Ihissarm: Square najeetory, n=2, xz-plane .

5.36 Configuration d 'lhissarm: Square Trajectory, 7 2 4 , xy-plane

5.37 Tkacking Aawscy Analysk Square Tkajectory, 71==4, xg-plane

5.38 'IkackingAccuracy Analysis: Square 'hajectory, r-4,

5.39 T1:acking Aa?uracy Analysis: Ciicular Tirajectory, n=4, xz-plane 94

5.41 Velocity Tracking Contml Simulation Results, n( = 1000

5.43 Velocity Thckhg ControI, nt = 50, xz-plane