Forward Kinematics Analysis of Robot Manipulator Using Different Screw Operators

Abstract

The D–H convention methods area the most commonly used methods for the formulation of forward kinematics. These suffer from various singularities due to the use of local coordinates. The inclusion of screw theory for the formulation of kinematic problems has been of great success in the recent times. There are various formulations that can be used in the screw theory usage. The most common methods are exponential formulae and the dual quaternion methodology. Dual quaternion methodology implements its algebraic terms as a screw operator, while the exponential methods use the exponential formulation for the representation as a screw. This paper studies these methods in depth with the help of a case study. The comparison of both these methodologies are presented analytically and concluded that the dual quaternion remains a better methodology in the light of various factors.