15-384 Robotic Manipulation

Fall 2007
Final Exam

time limit: 3 hours

closed book, closed note
Please show all work. Intermediate steps must be legible to receive credit.

17 December 2007

15-384 problems
problem points score
1 4
2 4
3 5
4 15
5 5
6 15
7 7
8 5
9 8
10 7
11 8
12 12
13 5
total 100
1. Consider the 3 × 3 rotation matrix  
R = r1 r2 r3 ,
where r1 , r2 , and r3 are column vectors. What is the value of the following expressions:
(a) {2 points} r1T r2

(b) {2 points} r3T r3

2. {4 points} What it is the physical meaning of the ith column of the Jacobian?

3. {5 points} Suppose an object starts at a location given by the homogeneous transform matrix H10 . We then apply
the following sequence of motions:
(a) relative motion T1 , followed by
(b) absolute motion T2 , followed by
(c) relative motion T2−1
What is the homogeneous transform matrix that describes the final location of the object? (here “relative motion”
means the transformation is performed with respect to the current frame, “absolute motion” means that the
transformation is performed with respect to the {0} frame.

2
4. Consider the following manipulator:

3 2

θ3
θ2
5

θ1

(a) {4 points} Show the locations of the DH frames. You can either draw them directly on the above diagram
or place them your own drawing of the manipulator axes.

3
(b) {4 points} Fill in the following table of DH parameters:

i θi di ai αi
1
2
3

(c) {4 points} Find the matrix H32 .

(d) {3 points} Assume that H10 , H21 , and H32 have already been found using the DH equation. Write H30 in
terms of H10 , H21 , and H32 .

4
5. {5 points} Which of manipulators drawn below has forward kinematics
   
x d +  cos θ
= ,
y  sin θ

where θ and d are joint variables for a revolute and prismatic joint, respectively? x and y denote the position of
the end effector, and the heavy arrows in each figure represent the axes that define x and y.

Ŷ0 Ŷ0
 

 Ŷ0
X̂0 X̂0

X̂0
(c)
(a) (b)

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6. Consider a 3-link planar RPR manipulator drawn below where the first joint is co-located with the origin:

θ3 2

θ1
d2

(a) {8 points} Let the end effector location be described by the vector
⎡ ⎤
x
X = ⎣y ⎦
φ

where φ is the angle of the last link measured from the x-axis, and consider the joint variable vector
⎡ ⎤
θ1
Θ = ⎣d2 ⎦ .
θ3

The forward kinematics of this manipulator are then

⎡ ⎤
d2 c1 + 2 c13
X = ⎣d2 s1 + 2 s13 ⎦ .
θ1 + θ3

Find the Jacobian for this manipulator. work space...

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(b) {7 points} Let the manipulator be in the configuration Θ = [90o , 1m, 0o ]T , and let 2 = 0.5. Suppose that
the manipulator is massless and it holds a 5kg mass in its end effector. Assume that the planet is slightly
larger so that acceleration due to gravity is a nice round 10m/s/s. What is the vector of joint torques and
forces necessary to hold the manipulator still?

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7. {7 points} The (x, y) position of the end effector of the planar manipulator drawn below is given by the forward
kinematics    
x −a sin θ1 + d2 cos θ1
= .
y a cos θ1 + d2 sin θ1
Find the inverse kinematics. hint: First, use one of our four tricks to solve for d2 . Once d2 is known, use another
one of our four tricks to solve for θ1 .

d2

a Ŷ

X̂

θ1

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more space:

9
8. Consider the wedge shaped solid drawn below. The three faces on the sides of the solid are rectangles, while the
top and bottom faces are identical triangles.

y1
8
60o 30o
x1
4
x0 z1

z0 5

√
4 3
y0

Find the following transforms. Do not resolve the and sines and cosines that show up, just leave them as s30,
c30, s60, or c60.
(a) {3 points} T10

(b) {2 points} T01

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9. The manipulator below is drawn in a configuration with all revolute joints at their zero positions.

4 2

θ4

8
θ3

d2

θ1

(a) {4 points} Draw the DH frames.

(b) {4 points} Fill in the DH parameter table

i θi di ai αi

1
2
3
4

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10. {7 points} A certain robotic system has generalized configuration and input variables, respectively,
   
q τ
q= 1 and τ= 1 .
q2 τ2

The kinetic energy of this system is

K(q, q̇) = q̇12 + 3q̇1 q̇2 + 2q̇22
and the potential energy is
V (q) = 10q2 .
Use Lagrange’s method to find the equations of motion and write them in standard matrix form.

12
11. Two copies of the response of a certain second order mass-spring-damper system to a step input of magnitude 1
applied at time t = 0 are plotted below.
(a) {4 points} Superimposed on the plot below, sketch the response that would result from applying P control
with a positive gain kp . If you are not a very good artist, explain in words how the response would be
different.
2

1.8

1.6

1.4

1.2

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
time (seconds)

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(b) {4 points} Superimposed on the plot below, sketch the response that would result from applying D control
with a positive gain kd . If you are not a very good artist, explain in words how the response would be
different.
2

1.8

1.6

1.4

1.2

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
time (seconds)

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12. RoboDJ, drawn below, is a robotic manipulator that can spin dance tunes on a turntable. It is drawn with the
angles of the revolute joints at zero.

d2

z0
x0

1m

Front View

Top View

The Jacobian for RoboDJ is ⎡ ⎤

−d2 s1 c1 0 0
⎢ d2 c1 s1 0 0⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎢ 0 0 1 0⎥
J =⎢
⎢ 0
⎥
⎢ 0 0 0⎥⎥
⎣ 0 0 0 0⎦
1 0 0 1

During normal play, an LP record (aka “album”) spins clockwise at 33 31 RPM (revolutions per minute). How-
ever, in order to bust a particular jam, RoboDJ decides to momentarily spin the record at 20 RPM counterclock-
wise. In order to accomplish this, it must push its end effector against the record and move its joints so that the
record spins at the appropriate velocity. Assume that the end effector is sticky so that when record touches the
end effector the record instantaneously changes its angular velocity to be consistent with the motion of the end
effector. When they are touching, the end effector does not slip on the record in any direction.
Assume that RoboDJ will perform this move at the configuration
⎡ ⎤
0
⎢0.9m⎥
Θ=⎢ ⎣0.4m⎦
⎥

(continued on the next page...)

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(a) {3 points} What is the desired linear velocity of the end effector in the 0 frame? Express this in units of
meters/second.

16
(b) {2 points} What is the desired angular velocity of the end effector in the 0 frame? Express this in units of
radians/second.

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(c) {7 points} Find the joint velocities that achieve the desired end effector velocity. If no such solution exists,
explain why. If you didn’t get an answer for parts a. and b., then explain how you would check to see
if a solution exists for a general ξ and how you would find the solution if when one exists. If you use a
pseudoinverse, you do not need to do the final computation, just define everything and explain exactly how
you would compute the answer.

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13. {5 points} RoboDJ from the previous problem wishes to stop the record and hold it still. In order to do so,
the robot must overcome a torque of 0.5 Nm applied in the clockwise direction by the turntable motor. At the
configuration ⎡ ⎤
11.5o
⎢ 1.0m⎥
Θ=⎢ ⎣ 0.4m⎦
⎥

0o
the robot will need to apply a force/moment of
⎡ ⎤
2N
⎢ 5N ⎥
⎢ ⎥
⎢−0.2N ⎥
0 ⎢
F =⎢ ⎥
⎥
⎢ 0 ⎥
⎣ 0 ⎦
0

in order to hold the record still. What are the required joint torques/forces?

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