Robotics Mid 1 Answers

1a) Explain the classification of Robots by coordinate system?

i. Ans) Cartesian Robots
This is the simplest configuration with all three linear type joints, as shown in Fig. 1. It is
constructed by three perpendicular slides, giving only linear motions along the three principal
axes. There is an upper and lower limit for movement of each link. Consequently, the endpoint of
the arm is capable of operating in a cuboidal space, called work space.

The workspace represents the portion of space around the base of the manipulator that can be
accessed by the arm endpoint. The shape and size of the workspace depends on the arm
configuration, structure, degrees of freedom, size of links, and design of joints. The physical
space that can be swept by a manipulator (with wrist and end-effector) may be more or less than
the arm endpoint workspace. The volume of the space swept is called work volume; the surface
of the workspace describes the work envelope.
Two types of constructions are possible for Cartesian arm: a Cantilevered Cartesian, as shown in
Fig. 1.A and a Gantry type construction shown in Fig 1. (B). Gantry configuration is used when
heavy loads must be precisely moved. The Cartesian configuration gives large work volume but
has a low dexterity. The configurations LOO or OLO or OOL give similar structures.

Characteristics:
 It consists of all linear joints
  Movement along all three axes can occur simultaneously
 Work envelope is rectangular
Advantages:
 Simple controls
 High degree of mechanical rigidity
 Good accuracy and repeatability
 Consistent payloads throughout work envelope
 Most rigid structure as it is supported at both ends.
Disadvantages:
 Limited in movement
 Require large volume to operate even though whole space is not used.

Applications:
 Assembly
 Surface finishing
 Inspection
 Reprography.

ii. Cylindrical Robot

The cylindrical robot is shown in Fig. 2. It has two perpendiculars linear joints, and a rotary type
joint. The difference from the Cartesian one is that Joint near base is replaced with a rotary type.
One typical construction is with the first joint is torsional and it may either have the column
rotating or a block revolving around a stationary vertical cylindrical column. The vertical column
carries a slide that can be moved up or down along the column. The horizontal link is attached to
the slide such that it can move linearly, in or out, with respect to the column. This results in a
TLO configuration. The arm endpoint is, thus, capable of sweeping a cylindrical space. The
workspace is a hollow cylinder as shown in Fig.2. Usually a full 360°rotation of the vertical
column is not permitted due to mechanical restrictions imposed by actuators and transmission
elements.

Many other joint arrangements with two linear and one rotary joint is possible for cylindrical
configuration, for example, LTO or LTL. The cylindrical configuration offersgood mechanical
stiffness and the wrist positioning accuracy and resolution decreases as thehorizontal stroke
increases.It is suitable to access narrow horizontal cavities and, hence, isuseful for machine-
loading operations.
Characteristics:
 It consists of two linear joints and one rotary joint
 Work envelope is cylindrical
Advantages:
  Larger work envelope than Cartesian configuration
 Suitable for pick-and-place operations
 Linear drives are well suited to use the hydraulic drives.
Disadvantages:
 Lower mechanical rigidity, repeatability and accuracy lower in direction of rotary
movement, more sophisticated control system required than Cartesian.
Applications:
 Good access into cavities and machine openings
 Load/unload
 Conveyor pallet transfers and
 Material handling.

iii. Polar (Spherical) Robot:

The polar robot is shown in Fig. 3. It consists of a telescopic link (linear type joint) that can be
raised or lowered about a horizontal rotary type joint. These two links are mounted on a rotating
base. This arrangement of joints, known as TRL configuration, gives the capability of moving the
arm end-point within a partial spherical shell space as work volume.
This configuration allows manipulation of objects on the floor because its shoulder joint allows
its end-effectors to go below the base. Its mechanical stiffness is lower than Cartesian and
cylindrical configurations and the wrist positioning accuracy decreases with the increasing radial
stroke. The construction is more complex. Polar arms are mainly employed for industrial
applications such as machining, spray painting and so on.

Characteristics:
 It consists of one linear joint and two rotary joints
 Work envelope is partial spherical
Advantages:
 Larger work envelope than Cartesian or cylindrical
 Simple design
 High payloads
Disadvantages:
 Lower mechanical rigidity
 More complex control system than Cartesian or cylindrical
 Limited vertical movement
Applications:
 Injection molding
 Forging
 Machine tool loading
 Material transfer
iv. Articulated or Jointed-arm Configuration:
The articulated arm is the type that best simulates a human arm and a manipulator with this type
of an arm is often referred as an anthropomorphic manipulator. It consists of two straight links,
corresponding to the human “forearm” and “upper arm” with two rotary joints corresponding to
the “elbow” and “shoulder” joints. These two links are mounted on a vertical rotary table
corresponding to the human wrist joint. Figure.4 shows the joint-link arrangement of the
articulated arm. This is also called as vertically articulated robot.
This configuration (TRR) is also called revolute because three rotary type joints are employed.
The work volume of this configuration is spherical shaped. The arm endpoint can sweep a full
spherical space. This anthropomorphic structure is the most dexterous one, because all the joints
are revolute, and the positioning accuracy varies with arm endpoint location in the workspace.
The range of industrial applications of this arm is wide.
Characteristics:
 It is a vertically articulated robot
 Three rotary joints, horizontal movement of the arm is small relative to vertical
movement, long reach makes it suitable for painting applications
Advantages:
 Excellent mechanical flexibility
 Compatibility with other robot arms working in the same common work space
 It can rotate at higher speeds.
Disadvantages:
 Poor accuracy and resolution due to revolute joints and hence more positional errors
 Large and variable torque on the joints creating counter balancing problems
 Limited ability to avoid obstacles and
 Higher moment of inertia and gravity and hence dynamic instability

Applications:
 Spray painting
 Welding
 Assembly operations.

v. SCARA:
It stands for Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm. This is also called as horizontal
articulated robot. The SCARA configuration has vertical major axis rotations such that
gravitational load, Coriolis, and centrifugal forces do not stress the structure as much as they
would if the axes were horizontal. This advantage is very important at high speeds and high
precision. This configuration provides high stiffness to the arm in the vertical direction ,and high
compliance in the horizontal plane, thus making SCARA congenial for many assembly tasks.
The SCARA configuration is presented pictorially in Fig.5. The mini drafter that is being used
by the students in class belongs to SCARA configuration (Fig.6).

Characteristics:
 It is horizontally articulated robot
  One linear and two rotary joints, vertical movement small relative to horizontalmovement.
Advantages:
 Versatile configuration
 Larger work envelope
 Flexible reach
Disadvantages:
 Sophisticated controller
 Complex programming
 Different locations in work envelope determine accuracy, payload and repeatability
 Less stable as arm approaches maximum reach
Applications:
 Automatic assembly
 In-process inspection
 Machine vision
 Painting
 Welding

1b) Define robot and list the advantages of robot.

Ans) Robotics Industries Association (RIA) of USA defines a robot as “a reprogrammable multifunctional
manipulator designed to move material, parts, tools or specialized devices through variable programmed
motions for the performance of a variety of tasks”.

Webster’s dictionary defines a robot as “a machine that looks like a human being and performs various
complex acts (as walking or talking) of a human being”.

Advantages of Robot:

i. Raise the quality and volume of products, with a minimum of labor force employed, owing to
a decrease in the production time and reproducible performance of robots which are not
subject to fatigue; increase the life of the equipment; improve the current production
processes and create innovative high- speed production processes and equipment.
ii. Improve working conditions by relieving people of stultifying, repetitive, tedious, hazardous
tasks; increase the safety of industrial labor; decrease the loss in man-hours due to
occupational trauma and industrial diseases.
iii. Decrease labour requirements
iv. One of the main causes of the intensive development of robotics is the need to increase
productivity in manufacturing.

2a) Explain various types of joints in the robots with example.

Ans) Many types of joints can be made between two links. Joints can be classified into one of the five types.
The relative motion of the adjoining links of a joint is either rotary or linear depending on the type of joint.
 Linear joint (L Type): The relative movement between the input link and the output link is a
linear sliding motion, with the axes of the two links being parallel.
 Orthogonal joint(O type): This is also a linear sliding motion, but the input and output links are
perpendicular to each other during the move.
 Rotational joint(R Type): This type provides a rotational relative motion of the joints, with the
axis of rotation perpendicular to the axes of the input and output links.
 Twisting joint (T Type): This joint also involves a rotary motion, but the axis of rotation is
parallel to the axes of the two links.
 Revolving joint(V Type): In this joint type, the axis of the input link is parallel to the axis of
rotation of the joint, and the axis of the output link is perpendicular to the axis of rotation.
Table below gives various types of Joints used in Robots.
2b) Write about SCARA robot.

Ans) It stands for Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm. This is also called as horizontal articulated
robot. The SCARA configuration has vertical major axis rotations such that gravitational load, Coriolis, and
centrifugal forces do not stress the structure as much as they would if the axes were horizontal. This
advantage is very important at high speeds and high precision. This configuration provides high stiffness to
the arm in the vertical direction ,and high compliance in the horizontal plane, thus making SCARA
congenial for many assembly tasks. The SCARA configuration is presented pictorially in Fig.5. The mini
drafter that is being used by the students in class belongs to SCARA configuration.

Characteristics:
 It is horizontally articulated robot.
  One linear and two rotary joints, vertical movement small relative to horizontal
movement.
Advantages:
 Versatile configuration
 Larger work envelope
 Flexible reach
Disadvantages:
 Sophisticated controller
 Complex programming
 Different locations in work envelope determine accuracy, payload and repeatability
 Less stable as arm approaches maximum reach
Applications:
 Automatic assembly
 In-process inspection
 Machine vision
 Painting
 Welding
 Works as drafting machine.

3a) Discuss in detail the factors to be considered while selecting and designing grippers.

Ans)
3b) Explain Vacuum cups with neat sketch.

Ans) Vacuum Cups are also called as ―suction cups” can be used as gripper devices for holding certain
type of objects. The usual requirements for the objects that are should be flat, smooth and clean, necessary
conditions to form a satisfactory Vacuum between the object and the suction cups.
These suction cups are used in the robot grippers are typically made of elastic material such as rubber or soft
plastics. If the object is to be handled made up of soft material then the suction cup would be made of a hard
substance. Some means of removing the air between the cup and part surface to create the vacuum is
required. The vacuum pump and the venture are two common devices used for this purpose. The vacuum
pump is a piston – operated or vane –driven device powered by an electric motor. It‘s capable of creating a
relatively high vacuum. The venture is a simpler device as shown in the figure below and can be driven by
means of shop air pressure.
Because of its simplicity it is relatively reliable and less in initial cost than that of the vacuum pump.
Therefore the overall reliability of the vacuum system is dependent on the source of the air pressure. The lift
capacity of the suction cup depends on the effective area of the cup and the negative air pressure between
the cup and the object whose relationship was obtained as
F = PA
Where F = The force or lift capacity in lb
P = The negative pressure in lb/in2
A = The total effective area of the suction cup used to create the Vacuum, in2
This effective area of the cup during the operation is approximately equal to the un-deformed area
determined by the diameter of the suction cup. The cup is squashed when it presses against the object, then
the effective area slightly larger than the un-deformed area. If the center of the cup makes contact against the
object during deformation will reduce the area over which the vacuum is applied. The negative air pressure
is the pressure differential between the inside and outside of the vacuum cup. Some of the features and
characterize advantages of this operation of the suction cup grippers used in robotics applications are:
 Requires only one surface of the part for grasping
 Applies a uniform pressure distribution over the surface of the part
 Relatively light – weight gripper
 Applicable to a variety of different materials.

4a) Explain Prehension and grip with neat sketch.

Ans) Human prehension combines the choice of a grip, the act of picking up an object, and the control of an
object by using the hand. Internally or externally generated desire triggers responses in the eye and the mind.
An instant later the hand takes a position over the object, forms a grip, and begins with the task. The process
is controlled by feedback loops which include eyesight for approximate positioning of the hand and touch
for adjusting the force and position of the fingers as shown in figure.

Prehension is a task oriented. Choosing a gripper force is an important step in the process of prehension. The
block diagram illustrates the relationships between the different activities included in prehension. It is also
important to choose the optimum finger position around the object.
4b) Explain the design procedure of end effectors.

Ans) Gripper Design Procedure:

 Determine objects, spacing, orientation, and weights for grasping. While objects are
predetermined, based on the task to be accomplished, spacing and orientation may be adjustable.
All the grasping surfaces, support ledges, and other graspable features of each object must be
identified.
 Determine roughly how each object will be grasped (i.e., from top, from side, gripper opening),
based on part geometry and presentation. If part presentation (orientation and spacing) is variable,
choose the most stable grasp orientation, with the widest spacing around the object.
 Calculate end effector payload reactions; estimate accelerations on controller information if none
are specified. Establish necessary and safe grasping forces not to damage the object. Account for
friction in frictional grasps.
 Make preliminary selection of the gripper device based on weight and system design parameters.
 Determine gripper maximum variable or fixed stroke. This may be a preliminary number if a
variety of strokes is available. A trade-off between stroke and the physical dimensions and
weight exists, so the minimum acceptable stroke is generally the best.
 Design grippers to allow grasping of all objects. Objects must be grasped securely. Multiple
grippers may be required to an individual end effector.
 The grasp center of each gripper mechanism should be at the object center of gravity whenever
possible. Also, keep the jaw lengths as short as possible and the grasp center close to robot wrist
to minimize moment loading and to maximize stiffness.
 Jaws must work reliably with the specific parts to being grasped and moved. The jaws should be
self-centering to align parts, if desired. Ideally the jaws should conform to the surface of the held
part. At a minimum, three-point or four-point contact is required. “V” groove styles are often
used to accomplish this feature. It is also good practice to have chamfered edges on grippers to
more closely match the part geometry and allow for greater clearance when grasping.
 Determine the footprint of objects and presentation spacing with the gripper jaw design.
Horizontal and vertical footprints must be checked with grippers open and closed so that there is
no interference with other parts or features of the part being grasped. Minimize footprint of the
gripper jaws.
 Revise payload reaction calculations. To minimize gripper weight to reduce the payload,
lightening holes are often added.
 Gripper stiffness and strength must also be evaluated prior to completing the design. Low-end
effector stiffness can cause positioning errors.
 Iteration on the jaw design and part presentation may be necessary to converge on a good design.
5a) Explain with an example the kinematic equations using homogeneous transformations robot end
effector.

Ans) To demonstrate the kinematic aspects of an end effector we shall consider a simple gripper, as shown
in the Fig. below. The arrangement here is one of many possibilities; in this one the z3 axis could be termed
the pitch axis, z4 the yaw axis and z5 the roll axis. This is one example of the use of Eulerian angles. The
parameters for links 4, 5 and 6 are as given in the following table:
link  d a α
1 1 d 0 +90
2 2 0 A2 0
3 3 0 A3 0

From which homogenous matrices are

����5 0 ����5 0 ����4 −����4 0 �4 ����4

����5 0 −����5 0 3 ����4 ����4 0 �4 ����4
4
A5 = ; A4 =
0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
����6 −����6 0 0
����6 ����6 0 0
2
A3 =
0 0 0 �6
0 0 0 1
The over all transformation matrix is ,
�11 �12 �13 �14
� �22 �23 �24
4
A6 = 3A4 4A5 5A6 = 21
�31 �32 �33 �34
�41 �42 �43 �44
In this example the end effector is shown in a position for which θ4 = 900 , θ5 = 900 and θ6 = 0. The
complete transformation from the (x6 y6 z6) axes to the (x0 y0 z0) set of axes is
P0 = 0A6 P6 = 0A3 3A6 P6
0
A3 is the transformation matrix of the wrist with reference and 3A6 , 6 is the transformation of the end of
the wrist with reference to the wrist. This can be represented in general terms,
�0 �� �� �� �� �6
�0 �� �� �� �� �6
�0 �� �� �� �� �6
1 0 0 0 1 1
It is seen by putting x6 = 0, y6 = 0 and z6 = 0 that d d d x y z  is the location of the origin of the (x6 y6 z6)
axes from the base. If we put x6 = 1 with y6 = 0 and z6 = 0 we have
�� − �� = ��
�� − �� = �� and
�� − �� = ��
Therefore (nx ny nz ) are the direction cosines of the x6 - axis. Similarly the components of (o) are the
direction cosines of the y6-axis and the components of (a) are the direction cosines of the z6-axis. These
directions are referred to as normal, orientation and approach respectively, the orientation axis being the
gripping directions.

5b) Write the properties of homogenous transformation matrix.

Ans) Homogeneous transformation is based on mapping an N-dimensional space into (N + 1) Dimensional

space. That means that one more coordinate is added to represent the position of a point. For example, a 3-D
space point that has coordinates [x y z] is represented by vector [x y z w] in homogeneous transformation .
In this case, w is a dummy that on normalization gives � � � � � � 1 . This additional 1 serves as a
tool to accomplish the addition of matrices required in translation by matrix multiplication, in this way we
homogenize the process of transformation. From the geometric point of views, the additional element 1 can
be regarded as the (n + 1)th coordinate of the point. Any 3D objects in homogeneous coordinate system are
represented as n × 4 matrix.
�1 �1 �1 1
�2 �2 �2 1
[X]= . . . . where n represents the number of vertices.
. . . .
. . . . ��4
The homogeneous transformation matrix is represented as

� � �
The portioned 3X3 matrix � � � produces a linear transformation such as scaling, shearing,
� � �
reflection and rotation.The 1X3 matrix � � � produces prespective transformation. The 3X1 sub
�
matrix � produces translation. The 1X1 sub matrix [S] produces overall scaling.
�
The homogeneous transformation matrix for translation is given as follows:
1 0 0 ��
0 1 0 ��
Td = -----------------(3.36)
0 0 1 ��
0 0 0 1
The homogeneous representation of the rotation about X, Y and Z-axes are given as follows:
 1 0 0 0 �∅ 0 �∅ 0 � −� 0 0
0 � −� 0 0 1 0 0 � � 0 0.
Tx, = ; Ty, = ; Tz,  =
0 � � 0 −�∅ 0 �∅ 0 0 0 1 0
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1

6a) What is meant by coordinate frame?

Ans) Generally in a 3-D space, a coordinate frame is defined as a set of three orthogonal right handed axes
X Y, Z, called principal axes as shown in Fig. 1 with the origin of the principal axes at ‘0’ along with three
unit vectors x, y, z, along these axes. This frame is labeled as {x y z} or by a number as {1} using a
numbering scheme. Other frames in the space are similarly labeled. Any point P in a 3-D space can be
defined with respect to this coordinate frame by a vector OP (a directed line from origin 0 to point P
pointing towards P).
In vector notation � = �� = �� � + �� � + �� � ------------(3.1)

Where PX , PY ,PZ are the components of the vector �� along the three coordinate axes or the projections of
the vector �� on the three X, Y, and Z-axes. A frame-space notation is introduced as 1P to refer to the point
P (vector OP ) with respect to frame {1} with its components in the frame as 1PX , 1PY ,1PZ .
1� = �� = 1� � + 1� � + 1� �
� � � -------------(3.2)
In vector-matrix notation, this equation can be written in terms of the vector components only as:
1��
�
1
P = 1�� = 1�� 1�� 1�� ----------------(3.3)
1��
The direction of the position vector �� can be expressed by the direction cosines:
1�� 1�� 1��
Cosα = �
; Cosβ = �
; Cosγ = �

With L = � = �� = (1�� )2 + (1�� )2 + (1�� )2 ------------------(3.4)

Where α, β, and γ are, respectively, the right handed angles measured from the coordinate axes to the vector
��, which has a length L.

6b) Explain about rotated & translated frames.

Ans)
 Consider now, the general case of two frames, frame {1} and frame {2}. Frame {2} rotated and
translated with respect to frame {1} as shown in Fig. 4. The distance between the two origins is vector
�1�2 or 1D2 . Assume a point P described with respect to frame {2} as 2P . To find 1P

Vector OP2 in frame {2} is 2P ; therefore, it transformed to frame {1}. First, consider an
intermediate frame {1’} with its origin coincident with O2 . The frame {1’} rotated with respect to frame {2}
such that its axes are parallel to axes of frame {1}. Thus, frame {1’} is related to frame {2} by pure rotation.
Therefore, point P is expressed in frame {1’} as

By substituting the equation (3.22) in equation (3.20)

1
P = 1R2 2P + 1D2 --------------------------------(3.23)
1
D2 = = �� �� �� T ------------------------(3.24)
Using the homogeneous coordinates, from equations (3.10) and (3.26), the two terms on the right-hand side
of equation (3.24) can be combined into a single 4 x 4 matrix, which is then written as
1
P = 1T2 2P ---------------------------(3.25)

The four sub matrices of a generalized homogeneous transform T are shown as below:

The scale factor σ has a non-zero positive (σ > 0) values and called global scaling parameter. σ > 1 is
useful for reducing and 0 < σ < 1 is useful for enlarging. For robotic study presented here σ = one used. For
describing the position and orientation of frame {2} with respect to frame {1}, T takes the form

Similarly,
Where,