Delta robot: Inverse, direct, and intermediate Jacobians

Abstract

In the context of a parallel manipulator, inverse and direct Jacobian matrices are known to contain information which helps us identify some of the singular configurations. In this article, we employ kinematic analysis for the Delta robot to derive the velocity of the end-effector in terms of the angular joint velocities, thus yielding the Jacobian matrices. Setting their determinants to zero, several undesirable postures of the manipulator have been extracted. The analysis of the inverse Jacobian matrix reveals that singularities are encountered when the limbs belonging to the same kinematic chain lie in a plane. Two of the possible configurations which correspond to this condition are when the robot is completely extended or contracted, indicating the boundaries of the workspace. Singularities associated with the direct Jacobian matrix, which correspond to relatively more complicated configurations of the manipulator, have also been derived and commented on. Moreover, the idea of intermediate Jacobian matrices have been introduced that are simpler to evaluate but still contain the information of the singularities mentioned earlier in addition to architectural singularities not contemplated in conventional Jacobians.