Research Article

International Journal of Advanced

Robotic Systems
July-August 2018: 1–8
Applying coordinate fixed Denavit– ª The Author(s) 2018
DOI: 10.1177/1729881418793283
Hartenberg method to solve journals.sagepub.com/home/arx

the workspace of drilling robot arm

Feng Ding and Cong Liu

Abstract
Drilling robot is a piece of large rock drilling equipment that integrates mechanical, electrical, and hydraulic technique, and
it is a significant device for drilling and blasting. The drilling robot arm is the core component of the robot. To get intuitive
and accurate modeling method to overcome the problem of the classic Denavit–Hartenberg method, for instance, the
model mismatches the entity. The coordinate system fixed on the entity of Denavit–Hartenberg notation that is named
coordinate-fixed Denavit–Hartenberg is creatively presented. The coordinate-fixed Denavit–Hartenberg method not
only improves the accuracy and operability of kinematic analysis but also solves the workspace of drilling robot arm
effectively. The drilling robot from an intelligent technology company in China is taken as the research example in this
article. The homogeneous coordinate transformation matrix of each link rod is established through reasonably simplifying
drilling robot arm as a multijoint structure. The coordinate-fixed Denavit–Hartenberg method is utilized for the first time
in determining and verifying the kinematics equation of drilling robot arm. The kinematics equation is employed to obtain
the effective workspace of drilling robot arm. The analysis results demonstrate that the design of drilling robot arm
reaches the need of workspace in the actual structure as well as meets the functional requirements of drilling robot.

Keywords
Drilling robot arm, CFDH method, workspace, kinematic analysis

Date received: 21 January 2018; accepted: 17 June 2018

Topic: Field Robotics

Topic Editor: Yangquan Chen
Associate Editor: Mou Chen

Introduction robot arm is the positioning mechanism of drilling robot,

At present, the technology of drilling and blasting has occu-
pied an important position in resources exploration, trans-
portation, and national defense construction, and so on.1,2 As
a piece of significant engineering equipment, drilling robot
is widely used in tunnel, mine, and underground engineering
by drilling and blasting.3,4 It is mainly composed of drilling
arm, propeller, and chassis. Drilling robot can not only
greatly reduce the intensity of manual labor and improve
working conditions but also easily achieve automation and
improve efficiency in the actual construction process.5–7
The drilling arm of robot is like the “arm” of human-
kind, which is the central part of drilling robot. The drilling
which is adopted to ensure the rock drill to work in the
correct and stable condition.8–10 Solving the workspace
of drilling robot arm is helpful to comprehend the relation-
ship between the position, direction, and displacement
of each moving link rod. Therefore, to satisfy the actual
Department of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, Xi’an
Technological University, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China
Corresponding author:
Feng Ding, Department of Mechanical and Electronic Engineering, Xi’an
Technological University, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710021, China.
Email: dfeng@xatu.edu.cn

Creative Commons CC BY: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
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further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/
open-access-at-sage).
2 International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems
construction requirements and improve the efficiency, sta-
bility, and safety performance of tunneling, it is imperative
to solve the effective workspace of drilling robot arm. Due
to the similarity between drilling robot arm and multijoint
robot, drilling robot arm is simplified as a multijoint
structure.11,12 The Denavit–Hartenberg (D-H) method is
commonly applied in kinematic research of multijoint
structure.13 The application conditions of coordinate fixed
Denavit–Hartenberg (CFDH) method are consistent with
D-H method, and the CFDH method is more accurate and
rational than the D-H method. Thus, the CFDH method is
adopted to solve the workspace of drilling robot arm in
this article.
The structure of this article is organized as follows. The
second section introduces the CFDH matrix transformation
method, which includes two parts, one part is the CFDH
convention and link rod parameters and the other part is to
establish the coordinate system of link rod. The third sec-
tion compares several methods for solving the kinematic
equations of robot, and the CFDH method is applied to
determine the kinematic equation of drilling robot arm and
verifies its correctness. The fourth section solves the work-
space of drilling robot arm and analyzes the results. The
fifth section makes a brief summary of the work done.
The CFDH matrix transformation method
CFDH convention and link rod parameters
A commonly utilized convention for selecting frames of
reference in robotics applications is the D-H convention
which was introduced by Jacques Denavit and Richard S
Hartenberg in 1955.14,15 The classic D-H method allows
the coordinate system to establish on the extension of
axis, leading to the problems such as inapplicability for
all the joints modeling, the model mismatching the
entity, and wrong local joint position analysis. To get
intuitive and accurate modeling method, the coordinate
system fixed on the entity of D-H notation, that is,
CFDH is creatively presented.
The CFDH convention is formulated by simplifying
robot as a multijoint structure and setting up a coordinate
system on each link rod entity. Multijoint robot can be
described kinematically using the four parameters for each
link rod: length and twist angle describe the link rod itself;
axis distance and joint rotation describe the link rod’s con-
nection to a neighboring link rod. In the usual case of a
revolute joint, qi is called the joint variable and the other
three parameters of link rod are fixed. For prismatic joints,
di is the joint variable, and the other three parameters of
link rod are fixed. The definition of mechanisms by means
of these parameters is a convention usually called the
CFDH method.
The structure of drilling robot arm conforms to the con-
dition of using the CFDH method. The drilling robot arm
can be regarded as a mechanical arm with multiple link
rods. In CFDH method, the parameters of the link rod are
specified as follows.
(1) Dimension parameters of link rod
Length of link rod ai: The distance between the two axes
of joints i and i  1 along the common perpendicular.
Link rod twist angle ai: The angle between the two axes
of joints i and i  1.
(2) Relation parameters of adjacent link rod
Axis distance di: The distance between two common
perpendiculars in the axis i direction.
Joint rotation qi : The angle between two common
perpendiculars on the plane which are vertical to the axis
of joint.
Establishing coordinate system of link rod
Owing to the drilling robot arm consisting of multiple
joints, it is necessary to establish coordinate system of each
link rod. The coordinate system of the link rod is shown in
Figure 1 and the regulation of parameters is set as follows.
Coordinate axis Xi: Along the common perpendicular
of two joint axes of rod i  1 points to the joint i;
Coordinate axis Zi: Coincide with the axis of the
joint i;
Coordinate axis Yi: Determined by the right-handed
Cartesian coordinates system;
Origin of coordinate Oi: When the joint axis i  1
intersects the joint axis i, the intersection point is
taken. When the axis of the joint is i  1 and the
axis of the joint is i, the intersection of the normal
axis of the two axes and the axis of the joint is i.
When the joint axis i  1 and the joint sweat axis i
are parallel, Oi is the intersection point taken by
the axis i and the public vertical line of the axis i þ
1 and the joint axis i.
The coordinate system is established according to the
CFDH method, and the transformation matrix between the
two adjacent parts is converted from coordinate system
fi  1g to coordinate system fig, which can be obtained
by four transformations.
(1) Rotating qi around Zi  1 axis:RotðZi1 ; qi Þ
(2) Translocating di along Zi  1 axis:T ransðZi1 ; di Þ
(3) Translocating ai along Xi axis:T ransðXi ; ai Þ
(4) Rotating ai around Xi axis:RotðXi ; ai Þ
The CFDH parameters of the rotating link rod are ai, ai,
di, qi. The joint angle qi is the joint variable; length of link
ai, link twist angle ai, and link distance di are fixed. These
four parameters determine the position of the link rod fig
relative to the link rod fi  1g.The coordinate transforma-
tion matrix is i1i T , as shown in Formula (1).
Ding and Liu 3

Figure 1. Coordinate system of link rod.

i1
¼ Rot ðZi1 ; qi Þ TransðZi1 ; di Þ TransðXi ; ai Þ RotðXi ; ai Þ complete motion model of the robot. Thus, this method is
iT
2 3 more used in the study of planar robots. In the application
cos qi  sinqi cosai sinqi sinai ai cos qi
6 7 of Moving Frame method to determine the kinematics
6 sinqi cos qi cosai  cos qi sinai ai sinqi 7 equation of the robot, in the first place, the recursive for-
6 7
¼6 7 mula of the moving frame should be gained according to
6 0 sina cosa d 7
4 i i i 5 the Bouquet formula of differential geometry. Then, the
0 0 0 1 relative component of the moving frame set up by each
2 3
cos qi  sinqi cosai sinqi sinai 0 link rod is calculated. Finally, the position and posture of
6 7 the moving frame on the end link rod of the robot is calcu-
6 sinqi cos qi cosai  cos qi sinai 07
6 7 lated on the basis of each relative component. Although this
¼6 7
6 0 sinai cosai di 7 representation method is meaningful to the trajectory plan-
4 5
0 0 0 1 ning of robot, it is more cumbersome to use and the amount
of calculation is too much for a multijoint robot.
ð1Þ
In summary, the Lie Group and Moving Frame methods
have their own advantages in determining the kinematic
equations of the robot. However, due to the limitations of
Determination and verification
their characteristics and the scope of application, they are not
of kinematic equation suitable for the drilling robot arm structure in this article.
Owing to the variety of robots, the methods applied in The CFDH method inherited the advantages of the classic
determining the kinematic equations of robot are different D-H method and improved it. It has solved the existing
on the basis of different structures; in addition to the D-H technical defects of D-H method, reduced the error,
method, Lie Group and Moving Frame methods are also improved the precision, and made it more suitable for the
commonly used. In the determination of the kinematic multijoint structure. Therefore, the CFDH method is applied
equation by applying the Lie Group method, there is no to determine the kinematic equation of drilling robot arm.
need to establish the corresponding coordinate system on Figure 2 shows the three-dimensional model of drilling
each link rod, and the rotation theory can be used to calcu- robot arm. It can be seen that the drilling robot arm has a lot
late directly. However, as a result of its lack of intuition, the of joints, thus applying CFDH method is more accurate to
Lie Group method is difficult to obtain a precise and determine its kinematic equation than other methods.
4 International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems

Figure 2. The three-dimensional model of drilling robot arm.

Figure 3. Coordinate system of drilling robot arm.

Because the essence of motion is the relative variation 2 3 2 3

c 1 s 1 0 a 1c 1 c1 s1 0 270c1
between positions of each coordinate system, the position 6 s1 c1 0 7 6
a1 s 1 7 6 s1 c1 0 270s1 7
0 6 7
and posture of each link rod can be expressed by the trans- 1T ¼ 6 7¼6 7 ð2Þ
4 0 0 1 0 5 4 0 0 1 0 5
formation matrix between the end coordinate system and the 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
base coordinate system. To determine the kinematic equa- 2 3 2 3
tion of drilling robot arm, it is necessary to establish the c2 s2 0 a 2c 2 c2 s2 0 ð3100 þ l 1 Þc 2
6 s2 c2 0 a 2s 2 7 6 ð3100 þ l 1 Þs 2 7
coordinate system of drilling robot arm. According to the 1 6 7 6s2 c2 0 7
2T ¼6 7¼6 7
rules of CFDH method, the end coordinate system is built on 4 0 0 1 0 5 4 0 0 1 0 5
the link rod which is to be described, and the base coordinate 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
system is set on the base of mechanism. Thus, in the coordi- ð3Þ
nate system of drilling robot arm, the base coordinate system 2 3 2 3
c3 0 s3 0 c3 0 s3 0
f0g is arranged at the base plate of drilling robot, and the end 6s3
6 0 c3 0 7 6s3
7 6 0 c3 0 77
coordinate system f7g is arranged at the top of drilling rod. 2
3T ¼ 6 7¼6 7 ð4Þ
4 0 1 0 d3 5 4 0 1 0 220 5
The drilling robot arm is simplified as a multijoint structure
and its coordinate system is established as Figure 3. 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
On the basis of the designing value which is provided by 2 3 2 3
c4 0 s4 a4 c4 c4 0 s4 1240 c4
the intelligent technology company, the relevant data of 6 s4 0 c4 a 4 s4 7 6 s4 0 c4 1240 s4 7
3 6 7 6 7
drilling robot arm is determined as follows. 4T ¼ 6 7¼6 7 ð5Þ
4 0 1 0 d4 5 4 0 1 0 1280 5
a 1 ¼ 270 mm; a 2 ¼ 3100 mm; a 4 ¼ 1240 mm; a 6 ¼ 460 mm; 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
d 3 ¼ 220 mm; d 4 ¼ 1280 mm; d 5 ¼ 950 mm; d6 ¼ 545 mm : 2 3 2 3
c5 0 s5 0 c5 0 s5 0
6 s5 0 c5 07 6 s5 0 c5 0 7
According to Formula (1) and using parameters from 4 6 7 6 7
5T ¼ 6 7¼6 7 ð6Þ
Table 1, the transformation matrix reflecting the link rods 4 0 1 0 d5 5 4 0 1 0 950 5
of drilling robot arm can be obtained as follows. 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
Ding and Liu 5

Table 1. Parameters of drilling robot arm parts.

Coordinate Link rod twist Length of Joint variable

system i angle ai ( ) link rod ai Joint rotation qi Axis distance di Joint variable initial value Range of joint variable

0 0 0 q0 0 q0 0 (45 , 45 )
1 0 a1 q1 0 q1 0 (17 , 60 )
2 90 a2 þ l1 q2 0 q2 0 (60 , 17 )
3 90 0 q3 d3 q3 90 (45 , 135 )
4 90 a4 q4 d4 q4 90 (180 , 180 )
5 90 0 q5 d5 q5 0 (0 , 90 )
6 90 a6 q6 d6 q6 0 (45 , 45 )
7 0 0 0 l2 þ l3 q7 3000 mm (3000 mm, 6980 mm)

2 3 2 3 Table 2. The error between designing value and analyzing result.

c6 0 s6 a6 c6 c6 0 s6 460c6
6 s6 0 c6 a6 s6 7 6 460s6 7
5 6 7 6 s6 0 c6 7 px py pz
6T ¼ 6 7¼6 7
4 0 1 0 d6 5 4 0 1 0 545 5
Designing value 6300 mm 750 mm 5200 mm
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
Analyzing result 6330 mm 739 mm 5230 mm
ð7Þ Percentage error 0.48% 1.47% 0.58%
2 3
1 0 0 0
60 1 0 07
6 6 7
7T ¼6 7 ð8Þ
40 0 1 d7 5 To specify the relation of one coordinate system
0 0 0 1 to the other coordinate system, the origin position
where si ¼ sin qi, ci ¼ cos qi (i ¼ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) of coordinate system and the direction of its coordi-
The matrices (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), and (8) are multi- nate axis must be determined. In the Formula (9), p is
plied by turns. The relation matrix of the end of drilling the position of drilling robot arm end; n means
robot arm and the base is obtained as formula (9), which is the principal vector direction cosine of the X axis;
the kinematic equation of drilling robot arm. o represents the major vector direction cosine of the
2 3 Y axis; a is the main vector direction cosine of the
nx ox ax px Z axis.
" #
0 0 6n oy ay py 7
0 7R 7P 6 y 7 According to the contents of the CFDH method, nx, ny,
7T ¼ 01 T 12 T 23 T 34 T 45 T 56 T 67 T ¼ ¼6 7
0 1 4 nz oz az pz 5 nz, ox, oy, oz, ax, ay, az represent the posture of the actuator
0 0 0 1 at the end of drilling robot arm; px, py, pz represent the
ð9Þ position of the actuator at the end of drilling robot arm.

8
> px ¼ 270  c1  s1  ð3100  s2 þ l 1  s2Þ þ 220  c5  ðc4  ðc1  s2 þ c2  s1Þ þ s4  ðc1  c2  s1  s2ÞÞ
>
>
>
>
>
> þ 460  c6  ðc4  ðc1  c2  s1  s2Þ  s4  ðc1  s2 þ c2  s1ÞÞ  950  s6  ðc4  ðc1  c2  s1  s2Þ
>
>
>
>
>
>  s4  ðc1  s2 þ c2  s1ÞÞ þ 545  c4  ðc1  s2 þ c2  s1Þ þ 1240  c4  ðc1  c2  s1  s2Þ
>
>
>
>
>
> 1240  s4  ðc1  s2 þ c2  s1Þ þ 545  s4  ðc1  c2  s1  s2Þ þ c1  ð3100  c2 þ l 1  c2Þ þ 220  c6  s5
>
>
>
>
>
>  ðc4  ðc1  c2  s1  s2Þ  s4  ðc1  s2 þ c2  s1ÞÞ  d7  s6  ðc4  ðc1  c2  s1  s2Þ  s4  ðc1  s2 þ c2  s1ÞÞ
>
<
py ¼ 270  s1 þ s1  ð3100  c2 þ l 1  c2Þ þ c1  ð3100  s2 þ l 1  s2Þ  220  c5  ðc4  ðc1  c2  s1  s2Þ
>
>
>
>
>
>  s4  ðc1  s2 þ c2  s1ÞÞ þ 460  c6  ðc4  ðc1  s2 þ c2  s1Þ þ s4  ðc1  c2  s1  s2ÞÞ  950  s6
>
>
>
>
>
>  ðc4  ðc1  s2 þ c2  s1Þ þ s4  ðc1  c2  s1  s2ÞÞ þ 1240  c4  ðc1  s2 þ c2  s1Þ  545  c4  ðc1  c2  s1  s2Þ
>
>
>
>
>
> þ 545  s4  ðc1  s2 þ c2  s1Þ þ 1240  s4  ðc1  c2  s1  s2Þ þ 220  c6  s5  ðc4  ðc1  s2 þ c2  s1Þ
>
>
>
>
>
> þ s4  ðc1  c2  s1  s2ÞÞ  d7  s6  ðc4  ðc1  s2 þ c2  s1Þ þ s4  ðc1  c2  s1  s2ÞÞ
>
>
:
pz ¼ 950  c6 þ 460  s6 þ c6  d7 þ 220  s5  s6 þ 1280
ð10Þ
6 International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems

Figure 4. The three-dimensional graph of workspace.

According to the designing value which is provided by

the intelligent technology company, the initial state of the
drilling robot arm is determined as px ¼6300 mm, py ¼
750 mm, pz ¼ 5200 mm.
The correctness of the kinematics equation can be ver-
ified by substituting the numerical value into formula (10).
Taking numerical values from joint variable q0 ¼ q1 ¼ q2 ¼
q5 ¼ q6 ¼ 0 ; q3 ¼ q4 ¼ 90 ; d7 ¼ 3000 mm; l1 ¼ 0 mm, the
analyzing result through the kinematic equation is that
px0 ¼ 6330 mm, py0 ¼ 739 mm, pz0 ¼ 5230 mm.
In the light of the regulation, the error range between
designing value and analyzing result is within 5% and
indicates that the kinematic equation is correct. As
shown from Table 2, the errors are far less than the
specified error range, thus it can be seen that the kine-
matics equation of drilling robot arm determined by the
CFDH method is correct.

Solving the workspace of the drilling

robot arm
Based on the analysis of the drilling robot arm structure
and kinematics, another important work is to solve the
workspace of drilling robot arm. The determination of
the kinematic equation through CFDH method facilitates
the solution of the workspace. The workspace of drilling
robot arm is a vital index to judge the working ability of
drilling robot.
There are many methods to solve workspace of drilling
robot arm, and each has its own characteristics. Using the
envelope boundary constraint conditions, this method is
very complicated and the intuitive nature is not strong.16
The graphic method is simple but not very accurate. Above
two methods are only applicable to the case of low degrees
of freedom. In the numerical method, a value is directly
Figure 5. The graph of workspace on the XOY surface.
substituted into the formula to determine whether the equa-
tion or unequation is founded. If not, the numerical value
needs to be adjusted. This article adopts a similar method in
the numerical method. It can not only omit the kinematics
calculation but also improve the operation speed, and the
results of intuitive nature are strong.17
Programming in the MATLAB software, each joint
numerical value is selected randomly within the range
of numerical value (the numerical value is shown in
Table 1). Bringing the numerical value into kinematics
equation, the three-dimensional coordinate value of the
end point of drilling robot arm is achieved. The three-
dimensional coordinate points output to the graph device
Ding and Liu
Figure 6. The graph of workspace on the XOZ surface.
Figure 7. The graph of workspace on the YOZ surface.
by using “plot” function, and the workspace of the drilling
robot arm is obtained. By using the “for” cycle to select
15,000 points randomly, the workspace diagram of drill-
ing robot arm can be formed. The graphs of workspace are
shown in Figures 4 and 5.
Random joint variables are calculated as shown in the
formula (11).
qi ¼ qi min þ ðqi max  qi min Þ  rand ð1Þ ð11Þ
In the formula (11), qimin is the minimum numerical
value of rotation range of the joint i, qimax is the maximum
numerical value of rotation range of the joint i, rand (1)
refers to the number of randomly selected 0*1.
The drilling rod end position is the workspace of drilling
robot arm, as shown in the Figure 4. It can be seen that the
workspace of drilling robot arm is similar to a half hollow
ellipsoid. The three-dimensional graph of workspace is basis
of the graph on the XOY, XOZ, and YOZ surfaces. Therefore,
if we intend to gain the workspace on the rock face, the
three-dimensional graph of workspace must be obtained.
The drilling robot arm is mainly working on the tunnel
face. Thus, in the actual construction, the XOY surface of
workspace is the most significant and the best reflect of its
kinematic performance. In combination with the Figure 5,
it can be seen that the projected points on the XOY surface
7
are distributed in a sector. The data analysis shows that the
fan radius is 8000 mm. According to the design index, the
XOY surface of workspace is centered on the sector with a
radius of 6000 mm. Therefore, the drilling robot arm satis-
fies the workplace requirement of drilling robot on the
tunnel face.
The XOZ and YOZ surfaces of workspace mainly
describe the drilling area that the drilling robot arm can
reach on the side, top, and bottom of the tunnel. As shown
in Figures 6 and 7, the projected points of workspace on the
XOZ and YOZ surfaces are similar to rectangles. The data
analysis shows that the drilling areas are 14,000 
9000 mm2 and 16,000  9000 mm2. On the basis of the design
index, the drilling areas of XOZ and YOZ surfaces are the
focus on 12,000  8000 mm2. Thus, the drilling robot arm
satisfies the workplace requirement of the drilling robot.
In summary, through the solution and analysis of
workspace, it can be proved that the drilling robot arm
studied in this article meets the construction require-
ments of drilling robot.
Conclusion
In this article, an improved method of solving workspace is
developed to ameliorate drawbacks of the conventional
8 International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems
method, while this method is still easy to operate and gen-
eralize. The coordinate system of CFDH method is fixed on
the entity and therefore, the accuracy of workspace can be
improved. The drilling robot arm is simplified into a multi-
joint structure and its coordinate system is established. The
transformation matrix between components is obtained
using the CFDH method, and the kinematic equation of
drilling robot arm is successfully determined and effec-
tively verified. Consequently, the end position of the drill-
ing rod and the workspace of drilling robot arm are gained,
and it is proved that the drilling robot arm satisfies the
construction requirements of drilling robot. The effective
workspace of drilling robot arm is helpful to comprehend
the relationship between the position, direction, and the
displacement of each moving rod. Meanwhile, it is
the foundation of establishing the dynamic equation of
the drilling robot arm.
Declaration of conflicting interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect
to research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The authors disclosed receipt of following financial support for
the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This
research is financially supported by the National Science Founda-
tion of China (grant no. 51275374).
ORCID iD
Feng Ding http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0519-3329
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