4.1. Kinematics of Robot Arms

The study of moving bodies and parts is called Kinematics. In robotics, we use kinematics to facilitate the discussion of the pose and also velocity of robots, parts of robots (sensors, arms, joints, and end effectors), and objects of interest.

When we know the joint angles and link lengths of a robot arm, we use forward kinematics to calculate the pose of parts of the arm. When we know what pose is needed, we use inverse kinematics to calculate the joint angles that will yield the desired pose.

• 4.1.1. Forward Kinematics
  • 4.1.1.1. Simple 2-D Example
  • 4.1.1.2. Example of Finding a Relative Vector in 3-D
• 4.1.2. Inverse Kinematics
  • 4.1.2.1. Solving Inverse Kinematics Problems
  • 4.1.2.2. Inverse Kinematic Example