Locating the wrist of an elbow-type manipulator

Abstract

An elbow-type manipulator with a shoulder offset may assume a given wrist position in as many as four different configurations (shoulder right/left, elbow up/down). The inverse kinematic solution that defines each of these configurations for a PUMA 560 robot arm is derived trigonometrically. This solution is also compared with a previously reported solution (see ibid., vol.11, no.6, p.449-55, June 1981).