Kinematic Determination Of An Unmodeled Serial Manipulator By Means Of An Imu

Kinematic determination for an unmodeled manipulator is usually done through a-priori knowledge of the manipulator physical characteristics or external sensor information. The mathematics of the kinematic estimation, often based on DenavitHartenberg convention, are complex and have high computation requirements, in addition to being unique to the manipulator for which the method is developed. Analytical methods that can compute kinematics on-they have the potential to be highly beneficial in dynamic environments where different configurations and variable manipulator types are often required. This thesis derives a new screw theory based method of kinematic determination, using a single inertial measurement unit (IMU), for use with any serial, revolute manipulator. The method allows the expansion of reconfigurable manipulator design and simplifies the kinematic process for existing manipulators. A simulation is presented where the theory of the method is verified and characterized with error. The method is then implemented on an existing manipulator as a verification of functionality.