Dual Quaternion Synthesis of Constrained Robotic Systems

2003 ◽  
Vol 126 (3) ◽  
pp. 425-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alba Perez ◽  
J. M. McCarthy

This paper presents a dual quaternion methodology for the kinematic synthesis of constrained robotic systems. These systems are constructed from one or more serial chains such that each chain imposes at least one constraint on the movement of the workpiece. Serial chains that have constrained workspaces can be synthesized by evaluating the kinematics equations of the chain on a finite set of task positions. In this case, the end-effector positions are known and the Denavit-Hartenberg parameters become design variables. Here we reformulate the kinematics equations in terms of successive screw displacements so the design variables are the coordinates defining the joint axes of the chain in a reference position. Then, dual quaternions defining these transformations are introduced to simplify the structure of the design equations. The result is a synthesis formulation that can be applied to a broad range of constrained serial chains, which can in turn be assembled into constrained parallel robots. We demonstrate the formulation and solution of the dual quaternion design equations for the spatial RPRP chain.

Author(s):  
A Perez-Gracia ◽  
J M McCarthy

This article presents a formulation of the design equations for a spatial serial chain that uses the Clifford algebra exponential form of its kinematics equations. This is the even Clifford algebra C+( P3), known as dual quaternions. These equations define the position and orientation of the end effector in terms of rotations or translations about or along the joint axes of the chain. Because the coordinates of these axes appear explicitly, specifying a set of task positions these equations can be solved to determine the location of the joints. At the same time, joint parameters or certain dimensions are specified to ensure that the resulting robotic system has specific features.


Author(s):  
Alba Perez ◽  
J. M. McCarthy

This paper presents the kinematic synthesis of a CRR serial chain. This is a four-degree-of-freedom chain constructed from a cylindric joint and two revolute joints in series. The design equations for this chain are obtained from the dual quaternion kinematics equations evaluated at a specified set of task positions. In this case, we find that the chain is completely defined by seven task positions. Furthermore, our solution of these equations has yielded 52 candidate designs, so far; there may be more. This synthesis methodology shows promise for the design of constrained serial chains.


2003 ◽  
Vol 125 (4) ◽  
pp. 709-716 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hai-Jun Su ◽  
Peter Dietmaier ◽  
J. Michael McCarthy

This paper presents an algorithm for generating trajectories for multi-degree of freedom spatial linkages, termed constrained parallel manipulators. These articulated systems are formed by supporting a workpiece, or end-effector, with a set of serial chains, each of which imposes a constraint on the end-effector. Our goal is to plan trajectories for systems that have workspaces ranging from two through five degrees-of-freedom. This is done by specifying a goal trajectory and finding the system trajectory that comes closest to it using a dual quaternion metric. We enumerate these parallel mechanisms and formulate a general numerical approach for their analysis and trajectory planning. Examples are provided to illustrate the results.


Author(s):  
Eric Wolbrecht ◽  
Hai-Jun Su ◽  
Alba Perez ◽  
J. Michael McCarthy

The paper presents the kinematic synthesis of a symmetric parallel platform supported by three RRS serial chains. The dimensional synthesis of this three degree-of-freedom system is obtained using design equations for each of three RRS chains obtained by requiring that they reach a specified set of task positions. The result is 10 polynomial equations in 10 unknowns, which is solved using polynomial homotopy continuation. An example is provided in which the direction of the first revolute joint (2 parameters) and the z component of the base and platform are specified as well as the two task positions. The system of polynomials has a total degree of 4096 which means that in theory it can have as many solutions. Our example has 70 real solutions that define 70 different symmetric platforms that can reach the specified positions.


Robotica ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 367-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guilin Yang ◽  
I-Ming Chen ◽  
Song Huat Yeo ◽  
Wee Kiat Lim

In this paper, we focus on the base and tool calibration of a self-calibrated parallel robot. After the self-calibration of a parellel robot by using the built-in sensors in the passive joints, its kinematic transformation from the robot base to the mobile platform frame can be computed with sufficient accuracy. The base and tool calibration, hence, is to identify the kinematic errors in the fixed transformations from the world frame to the robot base frame and from the mobile platform frame to the tool (end-effector) frame in order to improve the absolute positioning accuracy of the robot. Using the mathematical tools from group theory and differential geometry, a simultaneous base and tool calibration model is formulated. Since the kinematic errors in a kinematic transformation can be represented by a twist, i.e. an element of se(3), the resultant calibration model is simple, explicit and geometrically meaningful. A least-square algorithm is employed to iteratively identify the error parameters. The simulation example shows that all the preset kinematic errors can be fully recovered within three to four iterations.


Robotics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 132
Author(s):  
Paolo Righettini ◽  
Roberto Strada ◽  
Filippo Cortinovis

Several industrial robotic applications that require high speed or high stiffness-to-inertia ratios use parallel kinematic robots. In the cases where the critical point of the application is the speed, the compliance of the main mechanical transmissions placed between the actuators and the parallel kinematic structure can be significantly higher than that of the parallel kinematic structure itself. This paper deals with this kind of system, where the overall performance depends on the maximum speed and on the dynamic behavior. Our research proposes a new approach for the investigation of the modes of vibration of the end-effector placed on the robot structure for a system where the transmission’s compliance is not negligible in relation to the flexibility of the parallel kinematic structure. The approach considers the kinematic and dynamic coupling due to the parallel kinematic structure, the system’s mass distribution and the transmission’s stiffness. In the literature, several papers deal with the dynamic vibration analysis of parallel robots. Some of these also consider the transmissions between the motors and the actuated joints. However, these works mainly deal with the modal analysis of the robot’s mechanical structure or the displacement analysis of the transmission’s effects on the positioning error of the end-effector. The discussion of the proposed approach takes into consideration a linear delta robot. The results show that the system’s natural frequencies and the directions of the end-effector’s modal displacements strongly depend on its position in the working space.


1993 ◽  
Vol 115 (4) ◽  
pp. 884-891 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yeong-Jeong Ou ◽  
Lung-Wen Tsai

This paper presents a methodology for kinematic synthesis of tendon-driven manipulators with isotropic transmission characteristics. The force transmission characteristics, from the end-effector space to the actuator space, has been investigated. It is shown that tendon forces required to act against externally applied forces are functions of the structure matrix, its null vector, and the manipulator Jacobian matrix. Design equations for synthesizing a manipulator to possess isotropic transmission characteristics are derived. It is shown that manipulators which possess isotropic transmission characteristics have much better force distribution among their tendons.


2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alba Perez-Gracia

The dimensional synthesis of spatial chains for a prescribed set of positions can be applied to the design of parallel robots by joining the solutions of each serial chain at the end-effector. This design method does not provide with the knowledge about the trajectory between task positions and, in some cases, may yield a system with negative mobility. These problems can be avoided for some overconstrained but movable linkages if the finite-screw system associated with the motion of the linkage is known. The finite-screw system defining the motion of the robot is generated by a set of screws, which can be related to the set of finite task positions traditionally used in the synthesis theory. The interest of this paper lies in presenting a method to define the whole workspace of the linkage as the input task for the exact dimensional synthesis problem. This method is applied to the spatial RPRP closed linkage, for which one solution exists.


Author(s):  
Venkat Krovi ◽  
G. K. Ananthasuresh ◽  
Vijay Kumar

Abstract We revisit the dimensional synthesis of a spatial two-link, two revolute-jointed serial chain for path following applications, focussing on the systematic development of the design equations and their analytic solution for the three precision point synthesis problem. The kinematic design equations are obtained from the equations of loop-closure for end-effector position in rotation-matrix/vector form at the three precision points. These design equations form a rank-deficient linear system in the link-vector components. The nullspace of the rank deficient linear system is then deduced analytically and interpreted geometrically. Tools from linear algebra are applied to systematically create the auxiliary conditions required for synthesis and to verify consistency. An analytic procedure for obtaining the link-vector components is then developed after a suitable selection of free choices. Optimization over the free choices is possible to permit the matching of additional criteria and explored further. Examples of the design of optimal two-link coupled spatial R-R dyads are presented where the end-effector interpolates three positions exactly and closely approximates an entire desired path.


2020 ◽  
pp. 027836492093194
Author(s):  
Neil T Dantam

Modern approaches for robot kinematics employ the product of exponentials formulation, represented using homogeneous transformation matrices. Quaternions over dual numbers are an established alternative representation; however, their use presents certain challenges: the dual quaternion exponential and logarithm contain a zero-angle singularity, and many common operations are less efficient using dual quaternions than with matrices. We present a new derivation of the dual quaternion exponential and logarithm that removes the singularity, we show an implicit representation of dual quaternions offers analytical and empirical efficiency advantages compared with both matrices and explicit dual quaternions, and we derive efficient dual quaternion forms of differential and inverse position kinematics. Analytically, implicit dual quaternions are more compact and require fewer arithmetic instructions for common operations, including chaining and exponentials. Empirically, we demonstrate a 30–40% speedup on forward kinematics and a 300–500% speedup on inverse position kinematics. This work relates dual quaternions with modern exponential coordinates and demonstrates that dual quaternions are a robust and efficient representation for robot kinematics.


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