A simplified force-based method for the linearization and sensitivity analysis of complex manipulation systems

In this paper a method is proposed to efficiently linearize the geometry of complex multibody systems by exploiting the kinetostatic dualism, i.e. formulating the linearization in terms of the force transmission. In this setting, an algorithm is introduced by which one can perform the linearization of the transmission behavior from any number of geometric parameters to the motion of a six-degree-of-freedom end-effector by applying six unit loads to the end-effector and determining internal forces. Moreover, applications in first-order error analysis, calculation of the stiffness matrix, and calibration of manipulators are proposed. Examples of both serial and fully parallel manipulators are presented.