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MAN TECH 4RM3

Week 1A
Introduction to Robotics
Dr. Timber Yuen

Introduction:

 A robot is a software controllable mechanical device that uses sensors to guide

one or more end effectors through programmed motions in a workspace in order to
manipulate physical objects.

 An industrial robot is a very popular piece of automation because:

 It comes as a complete package containing a robot arm, a controller, and user

interface software.
 Once installed, they can get to work right away.
 Special end of arm tooling called an end effector may be needed. This can be
a gripper, a welder, sprayer, etc.
 Also, you need to learn how to talk to the robot (programming).

An industrial robot has the characteristics of any other programmable automation:

-High initial investment (about $20,000 to $60,000 typical)

-Lower production rates than fixed automation.
-Flexibility to deal with variations and changes in product configuration.
-Most suitable for batch operations.

Classification of Robots: By Control Method, By Look or By Work Envelope

Source: http://www.fanucrobotics.com/
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Serial Link Robots vs Parallel Link Robots

Serial Link Robots:

 The traditional robotic arm can be classified as Open Chain Robot or Serial Link
Robot.
 It is called serial link robot because the links are driven by one motor at a time.
 The first link is used to position the second link and the third link is used to position
the third link and so on.
 This type of robot usually has larger work envelops and higher payload capacities.

Parallel Link Robots:

 Parallel Robots are becoming very popular due to their high speeds.
 They are called Closed Chain robots (because the links are closed) or Delta Robots
(because of the triangular/delta shape) as well.
 Sometimes they are called Spider robots due to the look.
 The tool point of a parallel robot is driven by 3 motors located at the robot base.
 The 3 motors are used to move the tool point to a new X, Y, Z position concurrently.
 Up to 3 extra motors can be mounted at the tool point to form a write allowing for
yaw, pitch and roll motion on top of the X, Y, Z motion.

Open Chain/Serial Link Robots:

Kia Plant (Scary) = 1:49 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjAZGUcjrP8
Kuka Titan Vehicle Handling = 0:52 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlqJ2YpFUlE
Kuka Glass Handling = 2:21 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwIzPjS5L6w
Fanuc M710 Demo Cell = 0:46 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z93YJaPJgsw

Closed Chain/Parallel Link Robots:

FANUC Parallel Link = 1:39 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daH5Xs11uQc
FANUC Parallel Link Cow Boys = 0:26 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S-wJxmSKxY

Usually parallel robot has smaller work envelope and lower payload capacity
(e.g. Fanuc M1 has 0.5 kg payload capacity)
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Here is a home-made Delta Robot – source: Wikipedia

A few homemade Delta/ Parallel Robots:

1:15 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oE_W8m48D0
2:40 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJOytLqyH-A

Canada Arm “Floating” on Earth during Ground Testing in Brampton ON.

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Robot Terminologies

 Joint =A joint of a robot is similar to a joint in the human body. It provides relative
motion between two parts of the body.

 Axis = A joint of a robot is sometimes called an axis.

 DOF = Stands for degrees-of-freedom.

 The number of DOF a robot possesses is the number of independent position

variables, which would have to be specified to locate all parts of the robot.
 Typically, the number of joints equals to the number of DOF.
 The mechanism for activating the end effector is not regarded as an
independent DOF. (e.g. a gripper that opens and closes is not a DOF).

A 6 DOF robot can move its tool to any arbitrary position in (x, y, and z)
and any arbitrary orientation in (Rx, Ry, and Rz).

A Redundant Robot is a robot with more than 6 DOF

How many DOF does a human arm have (not including the fingers)?

The human arm has 7 DOF; 3 in the shoulder joint, 1 in elbow joint, and 3 in the wrist
joint.

 Links = Links are the rigid components of the robot (arm).

 Load Carrying Capacity = It is the load that a robot can carry and still be able to
operate without violating the other specifications (e.g. speed).
-The usual load carrying capacity of an industrial robot is from 1Kg to 22Kg.

 Payload = the payload of a robot is the load carried by the robot at a given time.

 Maximum Speed = the maximum speed of a robot is defined as the maximum

speed of the robot tool tip in a point-to-point motion (i.e. Don’t care about the exact
position of the tool tip in between the two points).

 Joint Types
(1) Revolute/Rotational – R for short, and
(2) Prismatic (translational - P for short).

 Work Envelop = the points in 3D space which the tool tip of a robot can reach.
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Work Space Analysis

Main objective for a Work Space Analysis:

 To select the most suitable robot for the required accuracy to complete the
tasks at hand.
 To design the work cell in such a way to minimize robot move time.

Example 1: Cartesian work Envelop

 A gantry robot is a Cartesian robot

with supports on both ends.
 Its work envelop is a rectangular
box shape
 It is possible to program the X-Y
axes to move in a circle (for
example to dispense glue around a
circular path), but the robot will not
run smoothly due to the need to do
small ∆X and ∆Y moves along the
circular path.
 This is a job more suitable for a
robot with a circular path work
envelop.

Example 2: SCARA work Envelop

 A SCARA robot was called Selective Compliance

Assembly Robot Arm because its arm is rigid in the
Z-axis and pliable in the XY-axes, which allowed it to
inserting a integrated circuit (IC) chips along Z into a
round holes on circuit boards without binding.
 These robots work the best if your parts are laying
flat on a table or a conveyor belt.
 They usually have 4 axes (X, Y, Z and Roll) and there
is no way to control the (Pitch & Yaw) angle of the
part (unless a special wrist is added onto the tool
point).
 SCARA is not the most efficient robot to follow a
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straight path.

Five types of robots defined by shape of the work envelope

1. Cartesian Robot:
 3 prismatic joints.
 Work envelope is rectangular in shape.
 When a Cartesian robot is mounted
from above on a frame, it is called a
gantry robot.
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2. Cylindrical Robot:
 Joint 1 is revolute.
 Joints 2 & 3 are prismatic.
 The work envelope is cylindrical in
shape.

3. Spherical Robot:
 Joints 1 & 2 are revolute.
 Joint 3 is prismatic.
 The work envelope is spherical in shape.

4. SCARA (Selective Compliance Assembly

Robot Arm)
 The “shoulder” and “elbow” rotational
axis are vertical, which makes the arm
very rigid in the vertical direction, but
compliant in the horizontal (X,Y)
direction.
 Joint 3 (along Z) is prismatic.
 SCARA Robots usually has a Joint 4 for
gripper roll angle control
 The work envelope is cylindrical.

5. Articulated Robot:
 Joints 1, 2, and 3 are all revolute.
 The work envelope is complex, with a
side view cross section typically being
crescent (half-moon) shaped.
 Most articulated robots has an extra 2
to 3 joint at the wrist
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The Robot Wrist

 The robot’s wrist is used to establish the

orientation of the end effector.
 Robot wrists can have one, two or three
DOF.
 The three joints in a robot wrist is usually
defined as.
(i) Roll-rotation about the robot arm axis.
(ii) Pitch-up and down rotation.
(iii) Yaw-left and right rotation.

Robot Kinematics:
 Kinematics is the science of motion which treats the position, velocity and
acceleration of motion without regard to the forces which cause it.
 One of the objectives of robot motion control is to control the position and the
orientation of the robot tool in 3-D space.
 A robot link is usually driven by a rotary motor connected to the joint.
 Each joint’s position is controlled using a PID control loop using joint position
feedback.
 In order to control the tool position, we have to establish mathematical relations
between the joint angles, the link lengths, and the tool tip position.
 We will only be dealing with 2 DOF robots in this course (for example the first 2
links of a SCARA robot); however, techniques learned can be applied equally to
robots with more links.
Forward Kinematics:
 In forward kinematics, the joint angles and link lengths are given, and the
position and orientation of the tool with respect to the base frame is
determined.
 In other words, given joint space parameters, find world space information.
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Defining Robot Joint Angles:
Robot joint angles are defined using the right hand rule: counter clockwise (CCW) is positive.
 Joint 1 angle, A1, is defined with respect to the X axis on the base frame.
 Joint 2 angle, A2, is defined with respect to the center axis of link 1, L1.

Robot Tool Position:

 The joint tip location of link 1, (X1, Y1), with respect to the base frame is simply:
o X1 = L1 Cos(A1)
o Y1 = L1 Sin(A1)
 The joint tip location of link 2, (X2, Y2), with respect to link 1 tip is:
o X2 = L2 Cos(A1+A2)
o Y2 = L2 Sin(A1+A2)
 The overall tool tip location, (X, Y), with respect to the base frame is:
o X = X1 + X2 = L1 Cos(A1) + L2 Cos(A1+A2)
o Y = Y1 + Y2 = L1 Sin(A1) + L2 Sin (A1+A2)
o This is simply a vector going from (0,0) to the tool tip (X,Y).

Inverse Kinematics:
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 In inverse kinematics, the position and orientation of the tool with respect to the base
frame and the link lengths are given, the joint angles are to be determined.
 In general, this is a more complicated problem. However, this is a more useful problem to
solve for robot control because in everyday application, we are more interested in
positioning a robot tool in a particular position in world space X, Y & Z coordinates for part
manipulation.
 Now that we have established the forward kinematics solution for the 2 DOF robot, we can
proceed to determine the inverse kinematics solution. The objective is to solve for the
joint angles, A1 and A2 (the unknowns), respectively using the forward kinematics
equations:

X = L1 Cos(A1) + L2 Cos(A1+A2) ------------------------------------------------ [1]

Y = L1 Sin(A1) + L2 Sin (A1+A2) ------------------------------------------------- [2]

Squaring [1]:
X2 = L12Cos2 A1 + 2(L1 CosA1)(L2 Cos(A1+A2)) + L22Cos2 (A1+A2)
X2 = L12Cos2 A1 + 2L1 L2 CosA1 Cos(A1+A2) + L22Cos2 (A1+A2) ----------[3]

Squaring [2]:
Y2 = L12Sin2 A1 + 2(L1 SinA1)(L2 Sin(A1+A2)) + L22Sin2 (A1+A2)
Y2 = L12Sin2 A1 + 2L1 L2 Sin A1 Sin(A1+A2) + L22Sin2 (A1+A2) ------------[4]

[3] + [4]:
X2 +Y2 = L12 [Cos2 A1 + Sin2 A1] + 2L1 L2 [CosA1 Cos(A1+A2) + Sin A1 Sin(A1+A2)] +
L22[Sin2 (A1+A2) + Cos2 (A1+A2)] ---------------------------------------[5]

From Grade 13 Algebra we learnt that:

 Sin2 A + Cos2 A = 1,
 Cos (A-B) = CosA CosB + SinA SinB
 Cos(-A) = Cos A

Therefore, [5] can be simplified as:

X2 +Y2 = L12 + 2L1 L2 Cos[A1 - (A1+A2)] + L22

= L12 + 2L1 L2 Cos[-A2] + L22
X +Y = L12 + 2L1 L2 Cos[A2] + L22 -------------------------------------------------------[6]
2 2

Therefore, joint angle A2 can be solved as:

A2 = +/- ArcCos[(X2 +Y2- L12 – L22)/ (2L1 L2)] -------------------------------------[7]

Where the +ve solution is the “Right Arm Solution”, and the –ve solution is the “Left Arm Solution”.

To solve for joint angle A1, we have to make use of the following formulas from Grade 13 Algebra:

Cos (A1+A2) = CosA1 CosA2 – SinA1 SinA2 -------------------------------- [8]

Sin (A1+A2) = SinA1 CosA2 + CosA1 SinA2 -------------------------------- [9]

Substituting [8] into [1]:

X = L1 Cos(A1) + L2 CosA1 CosA2 – L2 SinA1 SinA2

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OR X = (L1 + L2 CosA2 ) CosA1 – L2 SinA1 SinA2 ---------------------------[10]

Substituting [9] into [2]:

Y = L1 Sin(A1) + L2 [SinA1 CosA2 + CosA1 SinA2]

OR Y = L1 Sin(A1) + L2 [SinA1 CosA2] + L2[CosA1 SinA2]
OR Y = [L1 + L2 CosA2] Sin A1 + L2[CosA1 SinA2]
OR Y - L2[CosA1 SinA2] = [L1 + L2 CosA2] Sin A1 -------------------------[11]

From [10]:
Sin A1 = [(L1+L2 Cos A2) Cos A1 –X)/ (L2Sin A2)] ------------------------------[12]

Substituting [12] into [11]:

(Y – L2 Cos A1 Sin A2)(L2 SinA2) = (L1+L2Cos A2)[(L1+L2 Cos A2) Cos A1 – X]

Y L2 SinA2 – (L2 Sin A2)2 Cos A1 = (L1+L2Cos A2)2 Cos A1 – (L1+L2 Cos A2) X

Moving all terms containing Cos A1 to the right side:

Y L2 SinA2 + (L1+L2 Cos A2) X = (L1+L2Cos A2)2 Cos A1 + (L2 Sin A2)2 Cos A1

Y L2 SinA2 + (L1+L2 Cos A2) X = [(L1+L2Cos A2)2 + (L2 Sin A2)2 ] Cos A1

Therefore:
Cos A1 = [Y L2 SinA2 + (L1+L2 Cos A2) X] / [(L1+L2Cos A2)2 + (L2 Sin A2)2] ---[13]

A1 = +/- ArcCos{ [Y L2 SinA2 + (L1+L2 Cos A2) X] / [(L1+L2Cos A2)2 + (L2 Sin A2)2]}--[14]

When substitute the –ve A2 angle from [7] into [14], we get the “Left Arm Solution”.
When substitute the +ve A2 angle from [7] into [14], we get the “Right Arm Solution”.
For each A2 angle entered into this equation, two solutions will be generated. Human judgment is
required to check whether the +ve or –ve result yields the true solution. The incorrect solution needs
to be rejected.
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Example 1: Forward Kinematics
A 2 DOF planar robot has two rotary joints. The link length for joint 1 and joint 2 are both 400
mm. Determine the tool point World Position on the X-Y plane if the joint angles A1 = 80 deg and
A2 = -135 deg.
Solution: Apply the forward kinematics equations:

X = X1 + X2 = L1 Cos(A1) + L2 Cos(A1+A2) = 400 Cos(80o) + 400 Cos(80o-135o) = 298.89 mm

Y = Y1 + Y2 = L1 Sin(A1) + L2 Sin (A1+A2) = 400 Sin(80o) + 400 Sin(80o-135o) = 66.26 mm

Therefore the tool point world position is (298.89mm, 66.26 mm)

Example 2: Inverse Kinematics
A 2 DOF planar robot has two rotary joints. The link length for joint 1 and joint 2 are both 300 mm.
Determine the joint angle commands in degrees necessary to move the robot to the world location
(-300, 150) mm. Please provide all possible solutions and point out the correct solutions. Show all your
steps to get to the final solutions. Sketch the final solutions with a robot on the X-Y Plane.

Solution:
 Substitute everything into A2 = +/- ArcCos[(X2 +Y2- L12 – L22)/ (2L1 L2)] and get
 A2 = +/- 112.02 deg.
 For Left Arm Solution: Sub A2 = - 112.02 into A1 = +/- ArcCos{ [Y L2 SinA2 + (L1+L2 Cos A2) X]
/ [(L1+L2Cos A2)2 + (L2 Sin A2)2]} to calculate A1.
 We got2 possible solutions: A1 = + 150.55 deg or = - 150.55 deg.
 Sketch a robot arm and we can see that (-150.55, - 112.02) deg is the left arm solution that will
bring the robot to desired (X, Y) location. (Or sub into the
 We rejected A1 = +150.55 deg as a solution.

 For Right Arm Solution: Sub A2 = +112.02 into A1 = +/- ArcCos{ [Y L2 SinA2 + (L1+L2 Cos A2)
X] / [(L1+L2Cos A2)2 + (L2 Sin A2)2]} to calculate A1.
 We got 2 possible solutions: A1 = +97.42 deg or A1 = -97.42 deg
 By sketching a robot arm, we can see that (+97.42, + 112.02) deg is the correct right arm solution
that can bring the tool to the desired (X, Y) location.
 Therefore, we rejected A1 = -97.42 deg as a solution.


End of Notes