The Inverse Kinematic Solution of Robots

With inverse kinematic solutions, we will be able to determine the value

of each joint in order to place the robot at a desired position and
orientation. As you have noticed by now, the forward kinematic
equations have a multitude of coupled angles such as C234. This makes
it impossible to find enough elements in the matrix to solve for
individual sines and cosines to calculate the angles. To de-couple some
of the angles, we may multiply the RTH matrix with individual
matrices. This will yield one side of the equation free of an individual
angle, allowing us to find elements that yield sines and cosines of the
angle, and subsequently, the angle itself.

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Example 1

Find a symbolic expression for the joint variables of the robot of Example 1 in D-H representation.
The forward kinematic equation for the robot is shown as Equation (1), repeated here. Assume that
we desire to place the robot at a position—and consequently, an orientation—given as n, o, a, p
vectors:
Since this robot has only two degrees of freedom, its solution is relatively simple. We can solve for
the angles either algebraically, or by de-coupling the unknowns. We will do both for comparison.
Remember that whenever possible, we should look for values of both the sine and cosine of an angle
in order to correctly identify the quadrant in which the angle falls.

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I. Algebraic solution: Equating elements (2,1), (1,1), (1,4), and (2,4) of the two matrices, we get:

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II. Alternative solution: In this case, we will post-multiply both sides of Equation (1) by to de-
couple θ1 from θ2. We get:

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 Solution for Articulated Robot Arms
Let’s express the desired location and orientation of the robot

To solve for the angles, we will pre-multiply the [RHS] (Right-Hand Side) and the LHS] (Lift-Hand Side)
of the RTH =A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 with selected matrices, first with

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To solve for the angles, we will pre-multiply the [RHS] (Right-Hand Side) and the LHS] (Lift-Hand Side)
of the RTH =A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 with selected matrices, first with

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 From the 3,4 elements of Equation (1):

From the 1,4 and 2,4 elements, we will get:

rearranging the last two expressions and square and add them to get:

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 Referring to the trigonometric functions

Therefore:

In this equation, everything is known except for S234 and C234, which we will find
next. Knowing that we can then say that:

Since joints 2, 3, and 4 are parallel, additional pre-multiplications by and will not yield useful
results. The next step is to pre-multiply by the inverses of A 1 through A4, which results in:

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which yields:

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From the 3,3 elements of the matrices in Equation (3):

and we can calculate S234 and C234, which are used to calculate θ3, as previously discussed.
Now, referring again to Equation (2), repeated here, we can calculate the sine and cosine of u2 as follows:

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Treating this as a set of two equations and two unknowns and solving for C 2 and S2,
we get:

Although this is a large equation, all its elements are known and it can be evaluated.Then:

Now that θ2 and θ3 are known:

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Remember that since there are two solutions for θ234 , there will be two solutions for θ4 as well. From
1,3 and 2,3 elements of Equation (3), we get:

As you have probably noticed, there is no de-coupled equation for θ6. As a result, we have to pre-
multiply Equation (3) by the inverse of A5 to de-couple it. We get:

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 From 2,1 and 2,2 elements of Equation (4) we ge t:

Therefore, we have found six equations that collectively yield the values needed to place
and orientate the robot at any desired location. Although this solution is only good for the
given robot, a similar approach may be taken for any other robot.

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