Omni-Wrist III - a new generation of pointing devices. Part I. Laser beam steering devices - mathematical modeling

Omni-Wrist III is a new sensor mount developed with U.S. Air Force funding that emulates the kinematics of a human wrist. Driven by two linear motors and computer controlled, it is capable of a full 180° hemisphere of pitch/yaw motion. A comprehensive laboratory testing of one of the few existing devices of this type, installed in the Laser Communications Research Laboratory at Binghamton University, has resulted in the establishment of a complete mathematical model relating pitch/yaw coordinates of the sensor mount to the motor encoder signals. This paper presents the development of the model that incorporates inverse and forward pose kinematics solutions as well as the dynamics of the novel gimbal-like pointing system.