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Kinematics and Constraints of The Exechon Robot Accounting Offsets Due To Errors in The Base Joint Axes
Kinematics and Constraints of The Exechon Robot Accounting Offsets Due To Errors in The Base Joint Axes
Kinematics and Constraints of The Exechon Robot Accounting Offsets Due To Errors in The Base Joint Axes
López-Custodio1
Kinematics and Mechanisms Group,
Centre for Robotics Research,
King’s College London,
University of London, Strand,
London WC2R 2LS, UK
e-mail: pablo.lopez-custodio@kcl.ac.uk
Kinematics and Constraints
J. S. Dai
Kinematics and Mechanisms Group,
Centre for Robotics Research,
of the Exechon Robot Accounting
King’s College London,
Offsets Due to Errors in the Base
Joint Axes
London WC2R 2LS, UK
e-mail: jian.dai@kcl.ac.uk
R. Fu An Exechon robot with offsets between the axes of the joints that connect the legs to the fixed
Centre for Intelligent and Autonomous
platform is analyzed for the first time. Ideally these axes intersect constituting two universal
Manufacturing Systems,
and one spherical joints. The introduction of imperfections in these universal and spherical
School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering,
joints leads to more complex forward and inverse kinematics, which are solved in this
Queen’s University Belfast,
paper. It is proved that the equations used for the kinematics of the ideal Exechon robot
123 Stranmillis Road,
are no longer applicable when these offsets are added. The constraint system is also
Belfast BT9 5AH, UK
obtained, and it is found to be different to the one of the ideal case. Finally, the combination
e-mail: r.fu@qub.ac.uk
of offsets that lead to the largest deviation in the position of the parallel platform is deter-
mined. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4045942]
Y. Jin
Centre for Intelligent and Autonomous Keywords: parallel manipulators, forward and inverse kinematics, geometric errors
Manufacturing Systems,
School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering,
Queen’s University Belfast,
123 Stranmillis Road,
Belfast BT9 5AH, UK
e-mail: y.jin@qub.ac.uk
Journal of Mechanisms and Robotics Copyright © 2020 by ASME APRIL 2020, Vol. 12 / 021109-1
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Fig. 1 Diagram of a more general Exechon robot, taken from
Ref. [7]
The study will reveal the forward and inverse kinematics of the
Fig. 2 The ideal Exechon hybrid robot
robot and its system of constraints that will also turn out to be dif-
ferent to that of the ideal Exechon robot, and finally, it will shortly
study the effects of these offsets in the position of the moving plat-
form, revealing also which combination of errors produces the
largest deviation in position.
This paper is organized as follows: Sec. 1 describes the geometry
of the ideal Exechon robot, and this one is then compared in Sec. 2
with the geometry of the Exechon robot with offsets to be studied in
the paper; in Sec. 3, the inverse kinematics of the Exechon robot
with offsets is solved, followed by its forward kinematics in
Sec. 4 and the computation of its constraint system in Sec. 5.
The results of the forward kinematics problem (FKP) are used in
Sec. 6 to determine the deviation of the position of the parallel plat-
form of the robot due to the introduction of offsets. Finally, some
conclusions are drawn in Sec. 7.
(a) (b)
the screw coordinates of all joint axes in the robot with respect to the
fixed coordinate system: O S1i , O S3i , O S2j , and O SSk , i = 1, …, 4, j = then O ĵE = Rot(α, O îO )(0, 1, 0).
1, …, 5, k = 1, 2, 3. We now introduce a new point, C (see Fig. 6(a)), which is given
In the Exechon robot, the parallel module is used to control posi- by O rC : = O rS + (dB2 − hy )O ĵE . It can be seen that C is fully
tion, while the serial module allows control of the orientation of the defined with the information known so far. A new coordinate
tool. Clearly, the motion of the moving platform of the 3-DOF par- system, C, is defined with origin at C and orientation given by
C R: = Rot(α, îO ), so that ĵC ĵE and îC îO . Frame C is also
allel module is not pure translation, the parasitic rotation obtained O O
after positioning the tool is compensated by the serial module, known. In Eq. (1), the positive sign refers to the typical assembly
which allows to obtain the desired orientation of the tool. The shown in Fig. 6, while the negative sign can only be achieved by
IKP can, thus, be split in determining the joint axes of the parallel disassembling the mechanism. This different assembly requires the
module for a desired position and then using these results to calcu- following transformation between the C and O frames:
C R: = Rot(α, îO )Rot(π, k̂O ).
late the screw coordinates of the joint axes of the serial module for O O O
the desired orientation. To find O îE , the way to proceed in the case of the ideal Exechon
In the IKP of the parallel module, it is convenient to have robot is to use the following condition, see Fig. 2: O îE ⊥O rS/A2 . Since
the position of a point that is fixed to the moving platform point A2 is fixed to the ground O rS/A2 is known and adding the con-
as input. Note that known point T has relative motion with dition îE ⊥ĵE , O îE can be obtained.
respect to the moving platform. However, from the input infor- Unfortunately, the first condition does not hold for the Exechon
mation of the IKP, it is possible to determine the position of with offsets in the base joints. It can be seen in Fig. 6 that
point S, which is fixed with respect to the moving platform: O
îE ⊥
/ O rS/A2a . Instead, our version of the condition is
O
rS = O rT + O
S R(0, 0, − dT ). Hence, we have the following input
O
îE ⊥ O rS/A2b . However, unlike A2a = A2, A2b is unknown as it is
and output information for the analysis of each module: not fixed to the ground. As a result of this, the analysis becomes
Parallel module. Input: O rS : = (Sx , Sy , Sz ). Output: O S1i , O S3i , much more complex.
O Point A2b, which in the ideal Exechon robot is fixed and coinci-
S2j , O
E R. dent with A2a, is now moving in a toroid S [22–24] as shown in
Serial module. Input: O O O
E R, T R. Output: SSk . Fig. 7. The common perpendicular between axes S21 and S22 inter-
sects the latter at point A2c. This point draws a circle C1 lying on
3.1 Analysis of the Parallel Module for the Inverse plane yOzO with radius E1. The common perpendicular between
Kinematic Problem. To start this analysis, we first attempt to axes S22 and S23 intersects S22 at A2d. Point A2b draws a circle C2
follow the steps presented in Refs. [10,12] for the IKP of the parallel of radius E3, with center at A2d and normal parallel to S22 . When
module of the ideal Exechon robot, and it will be seen that there is actuating joint 21, C2 (q21 ) is swept along C1 generating a toroid.
O
rB2 /A2b · (0, 1, 0)O σ q22 · (0, 0, 1)
Fig. 7 Point A2b lying on a toroid
−O rB2 /A2b · (0, 0, 1)O σ q22 · (0, 1, 0) = 0
⇔ (7)
The axial displacement E2 gives a banana shape to the cross section ((dB2 − hy ) cos α + hz sin α cos θ − dA2 + Sy ) cos q21 +
of the toroid, see Ref. [22]. (Sz − hz cos α cos θ + (dB2 − hy ) sin α) sin q21 + E2 = 0
Point A2b can be located by means of any parametrization of S,
here the following is used: Equations (5)–(7) represent a system of three nonlinear equations
π in three unknowns. However, note that Eq. (6) is only in terms of
unknowns q21 and q22, and Eq. (7) is only in terms θ and q21. It
O
σ(q21 , q22 ): = O rA2a + Rot , O ĵO Rot q21 , O k̂O E1 O îO
2 is possible to solve these two equations so that two variables are
eliminated.
− E2 O ĵO + E3 Rot q22 , − O ĵO O îO
(2) Equation (6) has the form K1 cos q22 + K2 sin q22 + K3 = 0, which
= E3 sin q22 , dA2 + (E1 + E3 cos q22 ) sin q21 can be solved for q22 with two solutions:
−E2 cos q21 , − (E1 + E3 cos q22 ) cos q21
−E2 sin q21 K2 (K1 (K1 K3 ∓ K4 ) − K3 (k12 + K22 ))
q22 (q21 ): = atan2 (8)
−K1 K3 ± K4
so that O r̂A2b = O σ(q21 , q22 ) and S = im(σ(T2 )). This parametriza-
tion uses the joint variables (q21, q22) as parameters, q21 being mea- where
sured from zO axis to the common perpendicular of length E1, about
S21 and q22 measured from the common perpendicular of length E1 K1 : = (−E2 cos q21 + E1 sin q21 + dA2 − Sy ) sin α + (E1 cos q21
to the common perpendicular of length E3 about −S22 .
Since A2d A2b ⊥ S23 , it follows that S23 (q22 , q23 ) is tangent to + E2 sin q21 + Sz ) cos α
C2 (q22 ); therefore, the following condition holds: K2 : = Sx (cos α cos q21 + sin α sin q21 )
K3 : = E3 (cos α cos q21 + sin α sin q21 )
∂σ
S23 (q21 , q22 ) (3)
∂q22 (q21 ,q22 ) K4 : = K12 K22 + K24 − K22 K32
With the information in hand so far, we also know that B2 lies Equation (7) can be easily solved for θ to obtain:
somewhere in a circle C of radius hz, center at C and contained in
the xCzC plane (see Fig. 6(b)). We define the angle θ as the angle
θ(q21 ) = π ± arccos (dB2 sin α sin q21 − hy sin α sin q21 +
from zC to zE measured about yC (or yE). With this angle, C is
drawn by:
+ dB2 cos α cos q21 − hy cos α cos q21 + Sz sin q21 + (Sy
− dA2 ) cos q21 + E2 )(hz ( sin α cos q21
O
rB2 /C (θ) = hz Rot(α, O îO )Rot(θ, O ĵO )(−O k̂O ) (4)
− cos α sin q21 )−1 ) (9)
and the position of B2 is given by: O rB2 (θ) = O rC + O rB2 /C (θ).
A first condition to consider is that rB2 /C , ĵC , and ∂σ/∂q22 must be Replacing the expressions for q22 and θ from Eqs. (8) and (9) in
coplanar. Therefore, Eq. (5), the system is reduced to a single equation in a single vari-
able, q21. However, this equation is too complex to obtain a closed-
det aug O rB2 /C , σ q22 , O îO = 0 form solution, and a numerical method has to be applied. There are
(5) two solutions in each expression in Eqs. (8) and (9); therefore, at
sin qq22 sin θ( cos α cos q21 + sin α sin q21 ) − cos q22 cos θ = 0 least four solutions can be obtained for the system of equations.
When the values of q21, q22, and θ are defined, frame E is deter-
where σ q22 : = ∂σ/∂q22 . Equation (5) is in terms of unknowns θ, q21, mined by O E R = C RRot(θ, ĵC ) = Rot(α, îO )Rot(θ, ĵC )
O C O O
and
and q22. The computation of these unknowns fully solves the IKP of O
rE = rS + Rot(θ, ĵC )(0, − hy , − hz ). rBi , i = 1, 2, 3, are also
O O O
the parallel module; hence, it is required to find more conditions that easily obtained now that frame E is known. O rA2b is also known
involve these variables. by evaluating the parametrization in Eq. (2).
Note in Fig. 6 that S23 must intersect axis yC, which are the lines The screw coordinates of all joint axes in the parallel module are
given by L(σ q22 , A2b ) and L(ĵC , S), respectively. Therefore, if these given by:
(a) (b)
(c) (d )
Fig. 8 Four possible configurations of legs 1 and 3 for the same
pose of the end-effector and leg 2 Fig. 9 Initial configuration of the serial module
7 Conclusion
In this paper, the Exechon robot was analyzed considering imper-
fect joint axes in the joints connecting the legs to the fixed platform.
Fig. 12 Workspace of the Exechon robot with projections on the The forward and inverse kinematics of the robot were solved, and
yOzO and xOyO planes (top right and bottom right, respectively). its constraint system was obtained. It can be concluded that the
The clearer the dots, the larger the deviation of the moving plat- introduction of these offsets makes the analysis of the robot a much
form if all offsets are introduced except that of leg 3. more complex problem, which had to be solved numerically,
Fig. 13 Sixteen solutions for the inverse kinematics problem of the parallel module with O rS = (300, 500, 900) mm.
With every solution, the obtained vector [q13, q24, q33] is presented (continues in Fig. 14).
Fig. 15 Sixteen solutions for the FKP of the parallel module with q13 = 670 mm, q24 = 570 mm, and q33 =
800 mm. With every solution, the obtained vector O rS is presented (continues in Fig. 16).
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