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Introduction

This book stems from a first graduate course taught at the University of Florida on robot
geometry. It describes in detail a forward and reverse analysis for serial robot manipulators,
and a displacement analysis for closed-loop spatial mechanisms.
In the forward analysis, the variable joint angles are given, together with the constant
parameters that describe the geometry of the manipulator. The goal is to determine the
location (position and orientation) of the robot's end effector. This problem is relatively
simple. A single solution for the location of the end effector exists for a given set of joint
angle parameters.
The reverse analysis is more difficult because multiple solution sets exist. Here, the
desired location of the robot's end effector is specified, and the goal is to obtain all the
sets of joint variables for the specified location. In other words, the manipulator has a
multiple of distinct configurations for a specified location of the end effector. Here, it is
required to compute all these multiple sets of joint variables that determine each distinct
configuration.
One method of performing a reverse analysis is to use an iterative technique. In this
approach, a multidimensional search is performed employing a minimization of some
specified error function. Often, one component of the error function is the square of the
distance between the end effector location for the current set of joint parameters and the
desired end effector location. The other component of the error function will usually
measure the difference in orientation of the end effector from the desired orientation. Two
problems arise with the use of an iterative technique. The first is that only one set of joint
variables will be calculated. There is no guarantee that the iterative solutions for a pair of
neighboring end effector locations will yield the same robot configuration. For example,
a planar three-link revolute manipulator has in general two distinct configurations for a
specified location of the end effector. When the end effector is in the first quadrant, these
two configurations are referred to as elbow up and elbow down. A problem occurs when
the manipulator performing a task is in an elbow-down position and the iterative technique
yields an elbow-up configuration. The second problem is that the objective function to be
minimized in an iterative approach often has mixed units such as (length)2 + (radians)2,
which stems from an error equation that is a combination of position and orientation errors.
Such functions are devoid of any geometrical meaning and they are not invariant with a
change of units.
The majority of the book will focus on closed-form techniques for solving the reverse
analysis problem. In this closed-form approach, all the possible sets of joint parameters
that locate (position and orient) the robot's end effector as desired will be found by firstly
solving a polynomial in the tan-half-angle of one of the joint variables. Admittedly it

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 Introduction

is necessary to iterate to solve for the roots of a polynomial of degree greater than four.
This is, however, clearly different from performing the multidimensional search. The
remaining joint variables are solved for sequentially using appropriate loop equations.
Chapter 2 begins with a definition of position and orientation. Coordinate systems are
attached to each of a series of rigid bodies. Following this, transformations are derived
that relate the coordinates of a point in one coordinate system to another.
Chapter 3 proceeds to define a link and to describe the different types of joints that
can interconnect these links. A coordinate system is attached to each link of a serial robot
manipulator, and the transformation that relates these coordinate systems is derived.
The forward analysis is discussed in Chapter 4. The transformations developed in
Chapter 3 are used to determine the overall transformation that relates the coordinate
system of the last link, the end effector link, to ground. This overall transformation will
be used to transform the coordinates of a point in the end effector coordinate system (i.e.,
a tool point) to its coordinates in the ground coordinate system. The transformation will
also define the orientation of the robot's end effector relative to ground.
Chapter 5 presents the detailed problem statement for the reverse analysis, and initially,
iterative solution techniques are discussed. Following this discussion, a framework for
obtaining a closed-form solution is established by adding a hypothetical link to the free
end of the manipulator. This hypothetical link acts to connect the free end to ground and
effectively converts the open or unclosed serial manipulator into a closed-loop spatial
mechanism.
Chapter 6 introduces spherical closed-loop mechanisms. It is shown that an equivalent
corresponding spherical mechanism can be constructed for a serial robot manipulator
with a hypothetical closure link. The angular relationships for the equivalent spherical
mechanism and the actual spatial manipulator are the same.
After closing the loop, the reverse analysis problem is converted to that of solving for
the joint angles for the closed-loop mechanism when one of the joint angles is known. If
the newly formed closed-loop mechanism has one degree of freedom, then this problem is
solvable. The angular values that solve the closed-loop mechanism will also position and
orient the original robot's end effector as desired. The solutions of virtually all closed-loop
spatial mechanisms of one degree of freedom are presented in Chapters 7 through 10.
Chapter 11 presents useful reverse analyses for 6R manipulators with special geometry
that can be analyzed directly rather than by simplifying the general 7R mechanism anal-
ysis. Five examples are given: the Puma 560, Cincinnati Milacron T3-776, and GE P60
industrial robots and two conceptualized by NASA, that is, the space station remote ma-
nipulator system and the modified flight telerobotic servicer manipulator system. These
five examples demonstrate how the techniques developed in Chapters 5 through 10 are
applied to solve real manipulators.
At the conclusion of Chapter 11, the reader should understand the forward and reverse
position analyses of serial robot manipulators. These two analyses constitute thefirststep
required for robot control.
Quaternions are introduced in Chapter 12 as an alternative (or supplement) to the
coordinate transformation methods discussed in Chapter 2. This material is presented
for completeness (it is not required for a basic understanding of the forward and reverse
analysis procedure). Many papers have been published describing various applications of
quaternions. These papers are difficult to understand without a knowledge of the basics

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Introduction

that are presented in this chapter, and the development follows Brand (1947). A more
recent and advanced text on rotation operators has been published by Altmann (1986).
Summarizing, this text provides a first-level understanding of the structure and analysis
of serial manipulators. It is clear that a manipulator is an unclosed or open movable
polygon consisting of a series of joints and links. A geometric description of joints and
links is presented that provides a proper means of analysis using appropriate coordinate
transformations for points and orientations. It is also clear that any open serial manipulator
can be intimately related to a corresponding closed-loop spatial mechanism simply by
joining the free end to ground by a hypothetical link. In this way, the reverse position
analysis of the serial manipulator is essentially obtained from the solution of the input-
output equation of this corresponding closed-loop spatial mechanism.

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