ABSTRACT
This chapter presents results related to the inverse kinematics problem for robotic manipulators. As presented elsewhere, the forward kinematics problem of a manipulator is to determine the configuration (position and orientation) of the end effector of the manipulator as a function of the manipulator’s joint angles. The inverse problem of that, i.e., determining the joint angles given a desired end effector configuration, is the inverse kinematics problem and the subject of this chapter. This chapter will outline and provide examples for two main categories of approaches to this problem; namely, closed-form analytical methods and numerical approaches.
