Representation of Position &

Orientation
Amanuel M
SiTE - AAiT
Outline
● Coordinate System
● Position and Orientation
● Frames
● Frame-to-Frame Mapping
● Transformations
● More Representations of Orientations
● Computational Consideration
Coordinate System
Our end goal:- Build an arm robot that can pick up an item and places it in another
place
Coordinate System
● We need to know and represent the current state
(configuration) of the robot (initial configuration)
● We need to know the the configuration that allows
the robot to pick the item (target configuration)
● We need an algorithm that changes the
configuration of the robot from the initial to the
target configuration (motion planning)
Coordinate System
How do we represent the location of a point in a certain space?

The cartesian coordinate system

René Descartes
Coordinate System
Properties the Cartesian Coordinate System

● Each component is a unit vector

○ X => (1, 0, 0)
○ Y => (0, 1, 0)
○ Z => (0, 0, 1)
● They are ortonormal
Coordinate System
Properties the Cartesian Coordinate System

The right hand rule and positive/negative sides

Coordinate Systems
Other Coordinate Systems

Polar Coordinates Geographic Coordinates Cylindrical Coordinates

Position & Orientation
Representing Position in 3D in Cartesian Coordinates

Everything is relative

Frame
Position & Orientation
Representing Orientation in 3D

● Expressions
○ Rotation along Z-axis
○ Rotation on the XY plane
 Position & Orientation
Representing Orientation in 3D

● Attach a coordinate system to the rotated object

● Write the unit vectors of its three principal axes in
terms of the coordinate system (vector projection)
● Result - a 3x3 matrix - Rotation Matrix

Base frame

Target object frame

Position & Orientation
Representing Orientation in 3D

● A relative to B is given by the transpose of

the rotation matrix of B relative to A
Position & Orientation - Example
Frames
● When describing the position and orientation of an
object, which point in the object should be chosen?
● Frame, which is a set of four vectors giving position
and orientation information of a body
● It describes the position and orientation of a body
relative to another Origin Frame
Mapping frame to frame
● Often we would like to map descriptions from one frame to another
● The view of the camera is different from the end effector
Mapping frame to frame
Consider a point BP and we want to express its position relative to A, whose
orientation is same to B but different location

- B is translated away from A

Mapping frame to frame
Consider a point BP and we want to express its position relative to A, whose
orientation is same to B but different location

- B is translated away from A

Mapping frame to frame
Consider a point BP and we want to express its orientation relative to A, whose
location is same to B but different orientation

- B is rotated away from A

Mapping frame to frame
What if B is a rotated and translated away from A?

How can we express BP with respect to A?

Homogeneous Matrix
Mapping frame to frame - Example
Homogeneous Matrix
Rotation along X, Y, Z
Alternative Orientation Representations
The X-Y-Z Fixed Angles

● Start with the frame coincident with a known reference frame {A}.
● Rotate {B} first about X̂A by an angle γ, then about ŶA by an angle β, and, finally,
about ẐA by an angle α.
● The word “fixed” refers to the fact that the rotations are specified about the
fixed (i.e., nonmoving) reference frame
Alternative Orientation Representations
The X-Y-Z Fixed Angles
Alternative Orientation Representations
● The Z-Y-X Euler Angles
● Start with the frame coincident with a known frame {A}.
● Rotate {B} first about ẐB by an angle α, then about ŶB by an angle β, and, finally,
about X̂B by an angle γ.
● each rotation is performed about an axis of the moving system {B} rather than
one of the fixed reference {A}.
Alternative Orientation Representations
● Z–Y–Z Euler Angles
● Start with the frame coincident with a known frame {A}.
● Rotate {B} first about ẐB by an angle α, then about ŶB by an angle β, and, finally,
about ẐB by an angle γ.
● Rotations are described relative to the frame we are moving, namely, {B}, so
this is an Euler angle description.
Alternative Orientation Representations
Equivalent Angle–Axis Representation

Start with the frame coincident with a known frame {A}; then rotate {B} about the
vector K by an angle θ according to the right-hand rule.
Alternative Orientation Representations
Equivalent Angle–Axis Representation

Start with the frame coincident with a known frame {A}; then rotate {B} about the
vector K by an angle θ according to the right-hand rule.
Alternative Orientation Representations
Euler Parameters

In terms of the equivalent axis K̂ = [kx ky kz ]T and the equivalent angle θ, the Euler
parameters are given by
Next
Today’s class is about

● Representation of position and orientation of objects and frames

● Mapping the position and orientation of object from a frame to another
● Explore various alternatives orientation representation

Next Class

● Using the above methods, compute the position and orientation of the
end effector of a robot manipulator
○ Using basic matrix multiplication
○ Using Denavit-Hartenberg (DH) method