Kinematic Modeling of a Planar Robot Arm, Trajectory Planning, and Simulation

ESOFT College of Engineering & Technology, MORATUWA

June, 2023

In automated manufacturing industry, robot manipulators in pick and place, assembly, and part-mating
etc. perform robotic tasks.

Such robot arms are multiple degrees of freedom systems that use a number of electric motors and
mechanical coupling mechanisms.

Mathematical modeling and simulation:

Kinematics:

For example, in a robot performing a welding task, the welding torch is attached to the end-effector. In
robot end-effector and joint angle trajectory planning, the end-effector position, (𝑥, 𝑦), needs to be
written in terms of the joint angle positions, 𝑞1 and 𝑞2 and vice versa. This is called the “kinematics
problem”.

𝑥 = 𝑙1 cos(𝑞1 ) + 𝑙2 cos(𝑞1 + 𝑞2 ) 𝑦 = 𝑙1 sin(𝑞1 ) + 𝑙2 sin(𝑞1 + 𝑞2 )

ESOFT College of Engineering & Technology, MORATUWA: To Learn and to Apply for the Betterment of Humanity
How to solve the inverse kinematics?

1. 𝑞2 in terms of 𝑥, 𝑦

Use cosine rule [𝑙1 , 𝑙2 , √𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 , (𝜋 − 𝑞2 ) cos 𝜋 − 𝑞2 = − cos 𝑞2 ]

2. 𝑞1 in terms of 𝑥, 𝑦

𝛾 =? 𝛽 =? 𝑞1 = 𝛾 − 𝛽
Finally, we have

𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 − 𝑙12 − 𝑙22
𝑞2 = ± cos−1
2𝑙1 𝑙2
𝑦 𝑙2 sin 𝑞2
𝑞1 = tan−1 ∓ tan−1
𝑥 𝑙1 + 𝑙2 cos 𝑞2
Robot Trajectory Simulations:

For example, when the joint angles vary with time as shown below

ESOFT College of Engineering & Technology, MORATUWA: To Learn and to Apply for the Betterment of Humanity
the end-effector x-y position varies as follows:

ESOFT College of Engineering & Technology, MORATUWA: To Learn and to Apply for the Betterment of Humanity