Quasi-Serial Manipulator - Inverse Kinematics and Workspace Analysis for Industrial Automation

Industrial automation, especially within the manufacturing environment, is reliant on accurate control of robotic manipulators; for this reason, Inverse Kinematic (IK) control is desired. This paper outlines some key differences between forward and inverse kinematic control, and the derivation complexity of such, for Serial Kinematic Manipulators (SKM's) versus Parallel Kinematic Manipulators (PKM's). The IK of a single quasi-serial manipulator was derived, and subsequently validated using the physical model and an Arduino script. The workspace of this same mechanism was determined via an empirical method, and compared to an analytically derived workspace using MATLAB. Finally, a two-quasi-serial PKM was proposed and described.