The Kinematics of Robotic Manipulators With Flexible Links Using an Equivalent Rigid Link System (ERLS) Model

The Equivalent Rigid Link System (ERLS) is presented for the analysis of the kinematics of manipulators with flexible links. The concept of the ERLS is to separate the rigid-body dynamics and structural dynamics. The global motion of the flexible-link system is thereby separated into a large motion with a superimposed small motion. The large motion is represented by the ERLS and the small motion is due to the deviations with respect to the ERLS. The complete motion of manipulators is described by homogeneous transformations. The Jacobian and inverse kinematics are also presented in this paper.