A COMPLETE AND PARAMETRICALLY CONTINUOUS KINEMATIC MODEL FOR ROBOT MANIPULATORS

A new kinematic modeling convention for robot manipulators is proposed. The kinematic model is termed after its "completeness and parametric continuity" (CPC) properties. Parametric continuity of the CPC model is achieved by adopting a singularity-free line representation consisting of four line parameters. Completeness is achieved through adding two link parameters to allow arbitrary placement of link coordinate frames. The transformations from the world frame to the base frame and from the last link frame to the tool frame can in the CPC model be modeled with the same modeling convention as that used for internal link transformations. Since all the redundant parameters in the CPC model can be systematically eliminated, a linearized robot error model can be constructed in which all error parameters are independent and span the entire geometric error space. These properties make the CPC model particularly useful for robot calibration. The paper focuses on model construction, mappings between the CPC model and the Denavit-Hartenberg model, study of the model properties, and its application to robot kinematic calibration.