kinematics

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

the branch of classical mechanics and robotics that describes the motion of objects — their position, velocity, and acceleration — without reference to the forces that cause the motion; in robotics, kinematics addresses the geometric and temporal relationships between the joints, links, and end-effector of a robot manipulator, establishing how joint angles and displacements determine the position and orientation of the robot's tool in three-dimensional space; forward kinematics computes the end-effector position given the joint parameters — a straightforward calculation using transformation matrices; inverse kinematics determines the joint parameters required to achieve a desired end-effector position — a more computationally challenging problem that may have multiple solutions, no solution, or solutions that violate joint limits; kinematic analysis is the foundation for trajectory planning, motion control, and the simulation of robotic systems

Examples

• Forward kinematics showed that the three-joint arm could reach the target position with the specified configuration.
• Solving the inverse kinematics for a six-degree-of-freedom manipulator requires choosing among potentially infinite valid joint angle solutions.