Three-Dimensional Kinematic Analysis and Verification for a Flexible Robot Arm

The main objective of the present paper is to derive an explicit expression for the endpoint position and orientation of a flexible robot arm and to verify its 3-dimensional nonlinear kinematics of deformation through experiment. In particular, we define a material rotation vector as the basic deformation parameter and assign to it a clear physical meaning. From this definition and the kinematic relation of deformation, we obtained the end-point position and orientation of a flexible robot arm via on-line strain measurement. The kinematic responses of the experimental robot arm were also obtained independently using a vision system. The coincident results between simulation, strain measurement and vision system convince us of our model.