IMU-based manipulator kinematic identification

Reconfigurable robots have the potential for use on a much wider range of tasks than a typical, fixed-configuration robot because they may be modified to accommodate the specific task at hand. Such reconfiguration, however, necessitates the generation of a new kinematics model to allow performance of a task in Cartesian space. Whereas previous work has typically relied on either a known kit of parts from which the robot is constructed or a numerical search technique that is not guaranteed to converge, this paper presents an analytically-based kinematic identification scheme for an all-revolute, serial-link manipulator. Experimental results are presented investigating the practical utility of the technique.