Exam for DD2410 - Introduction to robotics 2022-12-20

Includes answer key at the end

Permitted aids: Paper, pencil, eraser

Notes:

Answer on the separate answer sheet. Write legibly, ambiguous answers

will be given 0 points.

Each question can be awarded a maximum of 4 pts. If a question can be

awarded partial credit, this will be explicitly described in the question.

Maximum possible score on the exam is 100 pts. Any bonus points will
be added to the exam score.

A passing grade requires a sum of exam score and bonus points of at

least 80 pts.

A sum of exam score and bonus points of at least 70 pts will be graded
as Fx, which means that the student is given the opportunity of
completing the grade to a passing grade after passing an oral exam.

Course responsible: Christian Smith (ccs@kth.se)

Question 1:

1 (13)
Which of the following describe (a) valid algorithm(s) for numerically
calculating the inverse kinematics of a manipulator, assuming that we
have access to a DH description?
(4p for correct list.)
Assume:
X : end effector pose in cartesian space.
Xd : desired end effector pose in cartesian space.
Θ : manipulator configuration in joint space.
J(Θ) : manipulator Jacobian.
K(Θ) : forward kinematics.

A)
Θ𝐷𝑜^ ::= 𝑋ϵϵΘ^𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒Θ𝑥 :: ::====Θ 𝐾^𝑋𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙𝐽 ⁻¹(𝑑Θ+^−()Θ^ )ϵ𝑋 Θϵ𝑔𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑥

𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 |ϵ 𝑋Θ^| < 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒

B)
𝑋ϵΘ^^𝑥: ::==𝑋𝑑𝐾 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒−(Θ^𝑋)^ 𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑔𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑠

name: _______________________________________________________ number:______________________________

2 (13)
𝑊ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 |ϵ𝑋| > ⊤ 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑^ 𝑥 Typo, should be 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒:
𝐽⊤(^Θ) ϵ𝑥 , making B) valid

𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛ϵ 𝑥Θ^ : = 𝑋 − 𝑋𝑑

C)
𝑋Θ𝐷𝑜^ : == 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝐾⁻¹(𝑋 𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙) 𝑔𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑠

𝑈𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 | ϵ𝑋^Θ | > 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒:

D)
θ𝑋𝐷𝑜^^ :::== 𝐾ϵΘ𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒^𝑥( : Θ::^===) 𝑋𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙^𝐽𝐾^⊤ +⁻¹(−Θ^(ϵ)𝑋𝑋^ 𝑋ϵ)
𝑔𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑥𝑑

name: _______________________________________________________ number:______________________________

3 (13)
 ϵ

𝑋^Θ : = 𝑋

Question 2:𝑈𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 | ϵΘ^Θ | < 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒:

Given a 7 DoF (RRRRRRR) serial link manipulator, which of the following

pairs of quantities should we expect to be able to control independently?
(4 pts. for correct list)

A) Translational and angular velocity of the end effector .

B) Orientation and angular acceleration of the end effector .

C) Joint velocities and end effector pose.

D) Joint torques and end effector translational velocity

Question 3:
Mark the following statements regarding manipulator kinematics as either
true or false: (1p per correctly classified statement.)

A) For a serial link manipulator, we can always formulate a closed form

for the forward kinematics if the DH parameters are known.T

B) For a serial link manipulator, we can always formulate a closed form

for the inverse kinematics if the DH parameters are known.F

C) For a serial link manipulator, we can always formulate a numerical

approximation for the forward kinematics if the DH parameters are
known.T

D) For a serial link manipulator, we can always formulate a numerical

approximation for the inverse kinematics if the DH parameters are
known.T

name: _______________________________________________________ number:______________________________

4 (13)
Question 4:
Mark the following statements regarding manipulator dynamics as
generally true or false. (1p per correctly classified statement.)

A) For a serial link manipulator, we can always formulate a closed form

for the forward dynamics if the DH parameters are known.F

B) For a serial link manipulator, we can always formulate a numerical

approximation for the inverse kinematics if the DH parameters are
known.T

C) The joint torques necessary to generate a particular acceleration of

the end effector depend on the current configuration of the robot.T

D) With a typical high reduction ratio gearing for electric motors, the
inertial contribution of the rotors is often negligible compared to the
contribution of the links.F
Question 5:
Answer the following questions with a number.
(Each correct answer gives 2 p)

A) What is the maximum number of controllable degrees of

freedom for the end effector pose for a 7 DoF robot with prismatic
joints
(PPPPPPP)?3

B) What is the maximum number of controllable degrees of

freedom for the end effector pose for a 7 DoF robot with revolute
joints
(RRRRRRR)?6

Question 6:
Mark all statements as generally true or false with regard to manipulator
Jacobians.
(1 point per correctly classified statement)
Assume:

name: _______________________________________________________ number:______________________________

5 (13)
𝐽𝑋𝐹τ ==== 𝐽 𝑣𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑊𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐ℎ𝐸𝑛𝑑(Θ), 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑡𝐽𝑎𝑐𝑜𝑏𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑗𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡 𝑒𝑛𝑑
𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑔𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑎𝑠𝑘 𝑠𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑒 Θ

1)2) 𝐽⁻¹ = 𝐽⊤

𝐽⁻¹𝑋 = Θ

3)
𝑋˙ = 𝐽Θ˙

4)
τ = 𝐽⊤ 𝐹

Question 7:
Which of the following joint actuation options will give us the highest
precision for positioning an end effector? Order from highest to lowest
precision.
BADC
(4 pt. for correct list)

A) A stepper motor in a direct drive configuration

B) Brushless DC motor and optical encoder on motor side of the

reduction gear.

C) A pneumatic cylinder with a strain gauge air pressure sensor.

D) Permanent magnet DC motor and a potentiometer directly

connected to the joint.

Question 8:
Match the grasp types from the list with the appropriate task.
(4 p for correct answer).
1) Form closure
2) Force closure
3) Caging grasp

name: _______________________________________________________ number:______________________________

6 (13)
 A) Picking up trash from a conveyor belt at a waste processing plant3

B) Picking up greased parts for assembly in a factory1

C) Adjusting the orientation of cylindrical beverage cans so that the

labels face the same direction.2
Question 9:
Rate the following statements about manipulator control as either true or
false.
(1 p for each correct answer)

A) Computed torque control is robust to modeling errors.F

B) Independent joint PID control is robust to modeling errors.T

C) Given enough time, a well-tuned PID controller will compensate for

gravity in static configurations.T

D) Given good kinematic and dynamic models of a manipulator, it is

possible to implement end-effector force control using only sensors
placed in the joints.T

Question 10:
Order the following quantities by computational expense, from less
expensive to more expensive. Assume DH models as prior knowledge.
ABCD(4 points for correct list)

A) Calculating the inverse kinematics for a 4 DoF Scara robot (RRRP),

using a closed form.

B) Calculating the forward kinematics for a 7 DoF manipulator

(RRRRRRR).

C) Calculating the Jacobian for a 7 DoF manipulator (RRRRRRR).

D) Calculating the inverse kinematics for a 7 DoF manipulator

(RRRRRRR) using a numerical method.
Question 11:

name: _______________________________________________________ number:______________________________

7 (13)
Consider the behavior tree above that is intended to be used on an
autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). The dashed arrows indicate that
the subtree “Make sure docked with charger” is used in two places of the
main tree.

A) What action will be executed if the AUV is safe, the battery level is
not ok, the vehicle is docked with the charger and near the charger,
and the main task is not done. (2p)recharge
B) What action will be executed if the AUV is safe, the battery level is
ok, the vehicle is docked with the charger and near the charger, and
the main task is not done. (2p)do main task
Question 12:
Consider the same behavior tree as in question 11 above. Mark all
statements as true or false. (1 point per correctly classified statement)

A) When designing the action “Dock with charger”, the designer can
assume that the AUV is already near the charger.T
B) When designing the action “Dock with charger”, the designer can
completely ignore the “Safe from collision” constraint, as it is taken
care of by “Avoid collision”.F
C) If the action “Do main task” moves the AUV into a state that is not
“Safe from collision”, another action will take over the execution.T

name: _______________________________________________________ number:______________________________

8 (13)
 D) If the action “Do main task” takes a long time to finish, the AUV
might pause the execution of the main task in order to recharge its
batteries.T

Question 13:
Mark all statements as true or false. (1 point per correctly classified
statement)

A) A condition has fewer return statuses than an action.T

B) A fallback node has fewer return statuses than an action.F
C) Let A1, A2, A3 be three actions. Fallback( A1, Fallback(A2,A3)) is
equivalent to Fallback(Fallback(A1,A2), A3).T
D) For a condition node, “Failure” is often interpreted as “False”.T

Question 14:
The RRT* algorithm produces a tree structure, which is a special case of
a graph. In such a graph, you can apply A* to find a path between any
two nodes. Mark all statements as true or false. (2 points per correctly
classified statement)

A) If you do this, your vehicle must be able to traverse any edge of the
tree in both directions.T
B) RRT* produces paths that are near optimal. Doing as suggested,
the paths found can be expected to also be near optimal.F
Question 15:
Mark the following statements as either true or false. (2p per correctly
classified statement.)

A) If there is no valid solution, A* will terminate and inform you of this.T

B) If there is no valid solution, RRT will terminate and inform you of
this.F

Question 16 :
For each alternative below, mark if it is true or false, regarding a
differential drive robot. (4p if all are correct.)

a) You can calculate how much a robot has rotated with

onlyknowledge about the distance between the wheels.F

name: _______________________________________________________ number:______________________________

9 (13)
 b) It is necessary to know the distance between the wheels tocalculate
the distance traveled by the robot.F
c) Each wheel is driven by a separate motor.T
d) To drive forward with a certain speed, you would typically haveto
give +V voltage to one motor and -V voltage to the other motor.T

Question 17 :
When comparing a multi-rotor drone with a fixed-wing drone, which of the
properties match a multi-rotor drone best? Mark each alternative as true
(connected with multi-rotor) or false. (4p if all are correct.)

a) Vertical landing and take-offT

b) Can stand still in the airT
c) High maneuverabilityT
d) Can glideF

Question 18 :
Which of the following sensors are 1) proprioceptive or 2) exteroceptive?
(4p if all are correct.)

a) RGB-D2
b) Gyro1
c) Accelerometer1
d) Radar2
Question 19 :
Consider the following four statements:

1) Relative position information is integrated, the position uncertainty

increases.
2) Relative position information is integrated, the position uncertainty
decreases.
3) Information from exteroceptive sensors is used to correct the
predicted position, the position uncertainty increases.
4) Information from exteroceptive sensors is used to correct the
predicted position, the position uncertainty decreases.
A localization system is typically divided into two steps;

a) the prediction step and1

b) the update step.4

name: _______________________________________________________ number:______________________________

10 (13)
Match the best fitting statement 1-4 to the two steps a and b.
(4p if both are correct)

Question 20 :
Mark each statement as true or false regarding occupancy grids.
(4p if both are correct.)

a) Say that you want to model a part of space with dimensions

DxDxD. The memory requirements for a standard 3D occupancy
grid scales cubically with D.T
b) When you decide on the size of the cells, you always want to pick
the smallest cell size that your computer memory allows.F

Question 21 :
Mark each alternative as either true or false regarding a Kalman filter
(when compared to a particle filter). (4p if all are correct.)

a) State represented by a GaussianT

b) Handles multi-modal distributions wellF
c) Handles non-linearities wellF
Question 22 :
Loop closures are important in SLAM. Mark each statement as true or
false in this context. (4p if both are correct.)

a) A loop closure typically increases the uncertainty in the systemF

b) Proprioceptive sensors are better suited for detecting loop closures
than exteroceptive sensors.F

Question 23 :
Mark each statement regarding SLAM as either true or false.
(4p if both are correct)

a) Due to its complexity, current SLAM systems can only handle

environments that are a couple of meters in size.F
b) Particle-filter-based solutions to SLAM are superior to other
approaches in most aspects.F

name: _______________________________________________________ number:______________________________

11 (13)
Question 24 :
Which of the following sensors would be best to detect that a collision
occurred. (4p if correct)

a) Gyro
b) Accelerometer
c) Magnetometer
d) LiDAR
e) Radar
f) Camera
Question 25 :
Mark each statement regarding exploration as either true or false.
(4p if all are correct)

a) A common strategy for exploration is to move to parts of space that

are at the border between freespace and unknown space.T
b) Occupancy grids are often used as an underlying representation
when doing exploration.T
c) If the position of the robot can be determined accurately already
there is no reason to perform exploration.F

name: _______________________________________________________ number:______________________________

12 (13)
 Answer sheet
Q1: ……A,…….............
Q2: …A……….............
Q3: a)..T............ b)...F....... c).....T...... d)..T..........
Q4: a).....F......... b)...T....... c).....T...... d).....F.......

Q5: a)......3........ b)..6........

Q6: a)......F........ b)....F...... c)....T....... d)....T........

Q7: …B A D C…………………….
Q8: a).....3......... b).....1..... c).......2....
Q9: a)...F.......... b)....T...... c)....T....... d)....T........

Q10: ....A B C D.............................

b)........do main
Q11: a)....Recharge.....................................
task.............
Q12: a)....T.......... b)...F....... c)....T....... d)...T.........
Q13: a).......T....... b).....F..... c)....T....... d).....T.......
Q14:.a).....T......... b)..F........

Q15: .a)......T........ b)..F........

Q16: a)......F........ b)....F...... c).T.......... d)....T........
Q17: a)......T........ b)....T...... c)....T....... d)......F......
Q18: a).......2....... b)....1...... c).....1...... d).....2.......
Q19: a).........1..... b)......4....

Q20: a)........T...... b).....F.....

Q21: a)........T...... b).....F..... c)....F.......

Q22: a).....F......... b).....F.....

Q23: a).....F......... b).....F.....

Q24: ………B……………

Q25: a).....T....... b)....T...... c)...F........

name: _______________________________________________________ number:______________________________

13 (13)