Lilly, Kathryn W.

Efficient dynamic simulation for multiple chain robotic mechanisms

An efficient O(mN) algorithm for dynamic simulation of simple closed-chain robotic mechanisms is presented, where m is the number of chains, and N is the number of degrees of freedom for each chain. It is based on computation of the operational space inertia matrix (6 x 6) for each chain as seen by the body, load, or object. Also, computation of the chain dynamics, when opened at one end, is required, and the most efficient algorithm is used for this purpose. Parallel implementation of the dynamics for each chain results in an O(N) + O(log sub 2 m+1) algorithm.