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3rd IEEE International Conference on "Computational Intelligence and Communication Technology" (IEEE-CICT 2017)

Kinematic analysis and simulation of a 3-DOF robotic

manipulator
Fei Liu, Guanbin Gao*, Lei Shi, Yongfeng Lv
Faculty of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology
Kunming 650500, China
[email protected], *Corresponding author: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract—Three degrees of freedom (3-DOF) robotic driven by a servo motor, and others are driven by hydraulic
manipulator is a kind of cost-effective industrial robot which is equipment, as shown in Fig.1.
widely used in production lines. A method to analyze the
structural design and kinematic equations for a 3-DOF robotic Fig. 1. The structure of the 3-DOF manipulator
manipulator is presented in this paper. Firstly, a new type of 3-
DOF robotic manipulator was introduced. Its kinematic
equations and inverse solution were established based on the
analysis of the structural configuration. Then, we design and
assemble the 3D mechanical parts of the robotic manipulator
in the virtual environment of Solid Edge ST4. And the 3D
robotic manipulator is imported into ADAMS virtual
prototype environment for simulation analysis and obtaining
the motion curve. The simulation results and the kinematic
equations of the robotic manipulator were compared, which
shows that the kinematic equations are valid and structural
configuration is reasonable.

Keywords—robot; manipulator; kinematic model; simulation

The coordinate systems of the 3-DOF manipulator are
I. INTRODUCTION established according to the D-H method [4, 5]. Relevant
With the characteristics of simple, easy to control and geometric parameters and notations are shown in Fig. 2.
low cost, 3-DOF robotic manipulators have been used in
Fig. 2. The coordinate systems of the 3-DOF manipulator
industrial production lines widely [1], which promotes its
research and analysis reversely [2]. In this paper, we
designed a new manipulator for grasping purpose. Firstly, we
established the virtual 3D model in the virtual environment
of Solid Edge ST4, and then exported the 3D model to the
ADAMS virtual prototype environment [3]. Finally, we
applied the contact force between the material and parts, and
run the simulation to get the results. The simulation results
and the kinematic equations of the robotic manipulator are
compared.

II. KINEMATIC ANALYSIS OF THE 3-DOF ROBOTIC

MANIPULATOR
The coordinate frames of each linkage from the base to
the end executor are set as 0, 1, 2, 3, 4. Therefore, the
In this section, we firstly analyzed the structural structural parameters of the manipulator are shown in Table
parameters of the 3-DOF robotic manipulator, then establish I.
the DH model, and solve the inverse kinematic solution of
the equations with algebraic methods. At last, we describe
TABLE I. THE STRUCTURAL PARAMETERS OF THE MANIPULATOR
the motion mechanism of grasping
No. θi ɑi-1 ai-1 di
A. Structural parameters of robotic manipulator 1 θ1 0 0 0
2 θ2 -90° a1 d2
The 3-DOF bar robotic manipulators is composed of one 3 θ3 0 a2 0
pneumatic actuator device and three rotating joints: one is 4 θ4 0 a3 0

978-1-5090-6218-8/17/$31.00 ©2017 IEEE

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3rd IEEE International Conference on "Computational Intelligence and Communication Technology" (IEEE-CICT 2017)

In table I, θ i is the rotating angle around the axis of zi , where

α i −1 is the twist angle around the axis of xi −1 , ai −1 is the nx = (c1c2c3 − c1s2 s3 )c4 − (c1c2 s3 + c1s2c3 ) s4
distance between the axis of xi −1 and xi , di is the distance
between the axis of zi −1 and zi . The relationship of the n y = ( s1c 2 c3 − s1 s2 s3 )c 4 − ( s1c 2 s3 + s1 s2 c3 ) s4
adjacent coordinate systems can be established through
homogeneous transformation[6]. nz = ( s2c3 + c2 s3 )c4 − ( s2 s3 − c2c3 ) s4
B. Kinematic modeling of the manipulator ox = −(c1c2c3 − c1s2 s3 ) s4 − (c1c2 s3 + c1s2c3 )c4
The transformation matrixes between the adjacent joints
can be obtained by substituting the parameters in Tab.1, o y = −( s1c 2 c3 − s1 s2 s3 ) s4 − ( s1c 2 s3 + s1 s2 c3 )c 4
shown as in (1)~(4).
oz = −( s2c3 + c2 s3 ) s4 − ( s2 s3 − c2c3 )c4
cos θ1 − sin θ1 0 0 a x = s1
 
0  sin θ1 cos θ1 0 0
(1)
1T =  0 0 1 0
a y = − c1
 
0 0 0 1
  az = 0

p x = (c1c2c3 − c1s2 s3 )a3 + a2c1c2 + a1c1

cos θ2 − sin θ2 0 a1 
  p y = ( s1c 2 c3 − s1 s2 s3 )a3 + a 2 s1c 2 + a1 s1
1  0 0 −1 0  (2)
T =
2  sin θ cos θ2 0 d2  pz = ( s2c3 + c2 s3 )a3 + a2 s2 + d 2
 2 
0 0 0 1
  where
s1 = sin θ1 , s2 = sin θ 2 , s3 = sin θ3 , s4 = sin θ 4 ,
cosθ3 − sin θ3 0 a2  c1 = cos θ1 , c 2 = cos θ 2 , c3 = cosθ3 , c 4 = cos θ 4 .
 
2
T =  sin θ 3 cos θ3 0 0
(3)
3  0 0 1 0 C. Inverse kinematic solution of the robotic manipulator
 
 0 0 0 1 Inverse kinematic solutions of the robotic manipulator
 are to obtain the joint variable according to the pose and
position of the actuator[8, 9]. In this paper, we solve the
inverse kinematic solution of the equations with algebraic
cosθ4 − sin θ 4 0 a3 methods.
 
3
T =  sin θ 4 cos θ 4 0 0 (4) The end position of the robotic manipulator is known in
4  0 0 1 0 the process of practical work. From above analysis, we know
  that the pose and position are determined by (6). According
 0 0 0 1
 to (6) 01T -1 (θ1 ) 04T = 14T and (6), it can be obtained as

Therefore, the transformation matrix between the base

and end actuator are as follows[7]:
 cosθ1 sinθ1 0 0 nx ox ax px 
n o a p 
T (θ ) T = T = T T T = −sinθ1 cosθ1 0 0  y y y y 
0 -1 0 4 1 2 3
1 1 4 1 2 3 4 0 0 1 0 nz oz az pz
0
= 01T 12T 23T 34T (5)  0 0 0 1  0 0 0 1 
4T
 cosθ1nx +sinθ1ny cosθ1ox +sinθ1oy cosθ1ax +sinθ1ay cosθ1 px +sinθ1 py 
−sinθ1nx + cosθ1ny −sinθ1ox + cosθ1oy −sinθ1ax + cosθ1ay −sinθ1 px + cosθ1 py 
It can be rewritten by substituting (1)~(4) into (5) as: = 
nz oz az pz
 0 0 0 1 
 

n x ox ax px 
n oy ay p y  (7)
4
T =  y (6)
0
 nz oz az pz  (7) can be written as:
 
0 0 0 1

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3rd IEEE International Conference on "Computational Intelligence and Communication Technology" (IEEE-CICT 2017)

As the same cause of (9), from the first line of the fourth
n x′ ox′ ax′ px′ 
  column and the third line in the fourth column, we can obtain
1 n y′ oy′ ay′ py′ 
(8)
(12) and (13):
4T = n ′ oz′ az′ pz′ 
 z 
 0 0 0 1 c 2 c3a3 − s 2 s3a 3 + c 2 a 2 + a1 = cos θ1 p x + sin θ1 p y (12)

where
s2c3a3 + c2 s3a3 + s2a2 + d 2 = pz (13)
n′x = c2c3c4 − s2 s3c4 − c2 s3 s4 − s2c3 s4
Therefore,
n′y = 0

n′z = s2c3c4 + c2 s3c4 − s2 s3 s4 + c2c3 s4 2px py

( pz − d2 ) sin θ2 + ( − a1) cos θ2 =
o′x = −c2c3 s4 + s2 s3 s4 − c2 s3c4 − s2c3c4 px2 + py2
2px py
o′y = 0 ( − a1)2 + ( pz − d2 )2 − a 23
px2 + py2 (14)
o′z = − s2c3 s4 − c2 s3 s4 − s2 s3c4 + c2c3c4
2a 2
a ′x = 0
According to the method of triangle substitution, we can
a ′y = −1 obtain:

a ′z = 0 ( pz − d 2 ) = ρ 2 cosφ2 , ( 2 p x p y − a ) = ρ sin φ
2 2 1 2 2
px + p y
p′x = c2c3a3 − s2 s3a3 + c2a2 + a1 2 px p y ,
ρ2 = ( − a1 ) 2 + ( pz − d 2 ) 2
2 2
p +p
p′y = 0 x y

2 p x p y
( − a1)
p′z = s2c3a3 + c2 s3a3 + s2a2 + d 2 φ 2 = arctan
p 2
x + p 2
y

( pz − d 2 )2
From above we know that 01T -1 (θ1 ) 03T =13T , and the Therefore,
corresponding elements of them are equal, so is the second
line in the fourth column:
2 px p y
( − a1 ) 2 + ( p z − d 2 ) 2 − a32
p x2 + p 2y
− sin θ1px + cos θ1py = py′ = 0 (9) sin(θ 2 + φ2 ) = (15)
2a 2

According to the method of triangle substitution[10]: According to (15) we can obtain:

p x = ρ1 sin φ1 p y = ρ 2 cos φ1
2 p x py
px ( − a 1 )2 + ( p z − d 2 )2 − a 23
2 2 φ1 = arc tan
ρ1 = p + px y py p x2 + p y2
θ 2 = a rcsin −
2a 2
To substitute the above variables into (9) we can reach:
2 p x py
( − a1 )
p x2 + p y2
sin(θ1 − φ1 ) = 0 (10) a r ct a n (16)
( pz − d2 )

px From (13) and (16) we can get:

θ1 = φ1 = arctan (11)
py

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3rd IEEE International Conference on "Computational Intelligence and Communication Technology" (IEEE-CICT 2017)

pz − sin θ 2 a 2 + d 2 (17) 541.48mm). The end joint variables are set as ∆θ1 = 15.00o ,
θ 3 = arcsin − θ2
a3 ∆θ 2 = 10.2103o , ∆θ3 = 25.4985o . The movement time is set
as 5 seconds. Then the angular displacement-time
As the first line and the first column are equal with the simulations were conducted, as shown in Fig.4.
same cause of (9) we can get:
Fig. 4. Angular displacement curve of the robotic manipulator

c 2 c3c 4 − s 2 s3c 4 − c2 s3 s 4 − s 2 c3 s4 = c1n x + s1n y (18)

Angular displaycement (°)

By solving (18) θ can be written as:
4

p y nx + px n y
θ 4 = arccos( ) − θ3 − θ 2 (19)
p x2 + p 2y

D. Grasping motion mechanism

Time (Second)
The hand of the robotic manipulator are required to move (a) Joint 1
upward and downward vertically for grasping. In order to
simplify the control system and improve the efficiency, a
serial parallel four-bar linkage was designed to realize the

Angular displaycement (°)

purpose which is shown in Fig. 3.
Fig. 3. Grasping motion mechanism

Arm Arm Hand

Triangle
Time (Second)
Motor (b) Joint 2

Base serial parallel four-

bar linkage
Gear Gear
Angular displaycement (°)

In Fig.3, it is showed that the series parallel four-bar

linkage is a triangle which is cascaded with two parallel four-
bar linkages. Both the angles of α and β are constants. Only
if α + β + γ = 180o , the hand of the robotic manipulator can
move upward and downward vertically.
Time (Second)
(c) Joint 3
III. SIMULATIONS OF THE ROBOTIC MANIPULATOR
To verify the reasonableness of the robotic manipulator,
angular displacement simulation and the position calculation
Angular displaycement (°)

of the end-effector were carried out.

A. Displacement simulation
We built the 3D model of the robotic manipulator in the
virtual environment of Solid Edge ST4 which was imported
into the ADAMS virtual environment for kinematic
simulation. The angles of initial joint variables are set as
θ1' = 0o , θ 2' = 40.72o , θ3' = 270.77o , θ 4' = 50.05o . According
to the calculation of ADAMS the coordinate values of initial Time (Second)
(d) Joint 4
position of the mass center are (909.98mm, 0.0mm,

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3rd IEEE International Conference on "Computational Intelligence and Communication Technology" (IEEE-CICT 2017)

B. Verification of the kinematic model of the robotic

manipulator
If we substitute θ1' = 0o , θ 2' = 40.72o , θ3' = 270.77o ,
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
'
θ3 = 270.77o into (7), we can get the initial position of end
This work was supported by the National Natural Science
actuator: Foundation of China (Grant No.51465027).
Px'=(cosθ1cosθ 2 cosθ 3 -cosθ1sinθ 2 sinθ 3 )a 3
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