Constrained robot dynamics I: Serial robots with end-effector constraints

Abstract

We examine the rigid-body dynamics of serial robots subject to time-invariant holonomic constraints on their end-effectors. We begin by looking at several examples of constraints and the subspaces they determine in the group of rigid-body displacements. This preparation allows us to give a general description of the dynamics of kinematic chains with constrained terminal links. Two examples are given to illustrate the main ideas: a planar four-bar mechanism and a 3-joint robot with a point on the final link constrained to lie on a line. ©1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.