ROBOT

KINEMATICS PART 2

S I M P L I F I E D

S L I D E S P R E P A R E D B A S E D F R O M T H E R O B O T I C I N S T I T U T E - C A R N E G I E M E L L O N
C O P Y R I G H T H O W I E C H O S E T, 2 0 0 7 A N D O T H E R S O U R C E S
FORWARD KINEMATICS
The Situation:
You have a robotic arm that starts out aligned with the x o-axis. You
tell the first link to move by Y1 and the second link to move by Y2.
The Quest:
What is the position of the end of the robotic arm?

Solution:
1. Geometric Approach
This might be the easiest solution for the simple situation. However, notice that the angles are
measured relative to the direction of the previous link. (The first link is the exception. The angle is
measured relative to it’s initial position.) For robots with more links and whose arm extends into 3
dimensions the geometry gets much more tedious.

2. Algebraic Approach
Involves coordinate transformations
• Theta1; L1; theta2; l2
The position of the yellow dot relative to the X3Y3 frame is (l3, 0). Multiplying H by that
position vector will give you the coordinates of the yellow point relative the the X 0Y0frame.