Lecture 4

Introduction to Robotics
Faculty of Artificial Intelligence

Prepared by
Dr.\ Emad A. Elsheikh
Faculty of Electronic Engineering,
Menoufia University.
 Robot Degrees of Freedom
As you may already know, in order to locate a point in space, we need to
specify three coordinates
To locate a rigid body (a three-dimensional object rather than a point) in space, we
first need to specify the location of a selected point on it, and therefore we require
three pieces of information. Next, we also need to specify the orientation of the object
to fully specify it in space.
A system with 7 DOF would not have a unique solution. This means that if a robot has 7
DOF, there are infinite ways it can position a part and orient it at the desired location.

As an example, we may use an optimization routine to pick the fastest or the shortest
path to the desired destination.
Half a degree of freedom

In some cases, the movements of a joint may not be fully controllable.

Another possibility for a half degree of freedom is to assign only particular values to
the joint.
Task Space and Workspace:
Task space

Drawing task space: R2 Peg-in-hole task space: R5

Workspace
Reachable workspace:
Dexterous workspace:

Cartesian Manipulator SCARA Manipulator Cylindrical Manipulator

 Robot Wrist:
Wrist assembly is attached to end-of-arm. End effectors are attached to wrist assembly
Function of wrist assembly is to orient end effectors. Body-and-arm determines global
position of end effector It has three degrees of freedom:
▪ Roll (R) axis – involves rotation of the wrist mechanism about the arm axis.
▪ Pitch (P) axis – involves up or down rotation of the wrist.
▪ Yaw (Y)axis - involves right or left rotation of the wrist.

Robot wrist assembly consists of either two or three degrees of freedom. A typical three- degree-of-freedom wrist joint
is depicted in Figure
 Robot End-Effectors
End-effectors are the tools attached to the end of the robot arm that enable it to do
useful work. Most robot manufacturers either do not include end-effectors with their
robots or include a general purpose gripper to allow you to do simple tasks. Typically, the
end-effectors must be purchased or designed separately.
 Grippers are the most common end-effectors. They provide the equivalent of a
thumb and an opposing finger, allowing the robot to grasp small parts and manipulate
them.
Parallel-Jaw Gripper Versatile Planar Gripper Suction-Cups Gripper

3-fingered Gripper 4-fingered Gripper Humanoid Robot Hand

Fingerless Gripper
Calculate the DOF for each of the following
Mechanism with two overlapping joints
The mechanism has three links they are connected at a single point A.
Since a joint connects exactly two links, the joint at A is correctly interpreted as two
revolute joints overlapping each other.