The Kinematic Sensitivity of Robotic Manipulators to Joint Clearances

Volume 2: 34th Annual Mechanisms and Robotics Conference, Parts A and BMontreal, Quebec, Canada, August 15–18, 2010Conference Sponsors: Design Engineering Division and Computers in Engineering DivisionISBN: 978-0-7918-4410-6 | eISBN: 978-0-7918-3881-5International audienceThe paper deals with the kinematic sensitivity of robotic manipulators to joint clearances. First, an error prediction model applicable to both serial and parallel manipulators is developed. A clearance model associated with axisymmetrical joints, which are widely used in robotic manipulators, is also proposed. Then, two nonconvex quadratically constrained quadratic programs~(QCQPs) are formulated in order to find the maximum reference-point position error and the maximum orientation error of the moving-platform for given joint clearances. Finally, the contributions of the paper are highlighted by means of two illustrative examples