Robotics and Autonomous Systems 10 (1992) 71-78 71

Elsevier

On the dynamics of SCARA robot

Sisir K. Padhy *
Dept. of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA

Communicated by T.M. Knasel

Abstract
Padhy, S.K., On the dynamics of SCARA robot, Robotics and Autonomous Systems, 10 (1992) 71-78.
Assembly automation using robots has proven to be very successful. It has been shown that use of robots improves the
accuracy of assembly, and saves assembly time and cost as well. SCARA (Selective Compliance Assembly Robot Arm) type
robots have been widely used in industry for assembly operations in both the mechanical and electronics domains of
manufacturing. One of the important issues in designing an optimal manipulator is the dynamic behavior of the manipulator
which is highly non-linear and strongly coupled due to the interaction of inertial, centripetal, coriolis and gravitational
forces. Although extensive study involving optimal time study, dynamic study using the Lagrange method, path planning etc.
have been made, no closed solution for the dynamics of this important robot has been reported.
This paper presents the study of kinematics and dynamics of the SCARA assembly robot. Closed solutions for the
dynamics of this robot are derived. To study the variations of the torques of the links a computer code is developed. It is
found that the torque is independent of the angular position, which makes the robot highly compliant.

Keywords: Dynamics; Robotics; Assembly robot.

Nomenclature the Zi_ t axis with the X i axis along

Z i - 1 axis
A~-I D-H transformation matrix for adjacent ei position of the center of mass of link i
frames, i and i - 1 from the origin of the coordinate system
c, cosine 0 i (xi, zi)
Cijk cosine Oiik = cosine{(Oi + 0r) + 0 k} input force for ith joint
di distance from the origin of the (i - 1)th force exerted on link i by link i - 1 at
coordinate frame to the intersection of the coordinate frame (Xi_ 1, Yi-l, Zi-l)
to support link i and the links above it
input torque for ith joint
inertia matrix of link i about its center
Sisir K. Padhy was born in Purushot- of mass with reference to the coordinate
tompur, Orissa, India. He obtained system (X0, Y0, Z0)
his bachelors degree in mechanical
engineering from Orissa University, .1, inertia matrix of link i about its center
India, with first clas and honors. He of mass referred to its own link coordi-
was awarded Gold medal for securing
the top rank in the engineering divi- nate system (Xi, Yi, Zi)
sion of the University for the year the shortest distance between Zi_ 1 and
1987. He holds a master of science in
.~ii mechanical engineering degree from Z~ axes
West Virginia University with re- effective mass of the 3rd link
search focus on Artificial Intelligence, meff
: -- design theory and design for manu- mi mass of the ith link
facturability. Currently he is pursuing his Ph.D. degree at moment exerted on link-/ by link i - 1
West Virginia University and is engaged as a design engineer ni
at General Electric Company. He has published seven techni- at the coordinate frame (X;_~, Y/-1,
cal papers to his credit.
Zi_t)
* Correspondence address: S.K. Padhy, Appliance Park 5-2N,
p* the origin of ith coordinate frame with
General Electric Company, Louisville, KY 40225, USA. respect to (i-1)th coordinate system

0921-8890/92/$05.00 © 1992 - Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. All rights reserved

72 S.K. Padhy

Oi the joint angle from Xi_ 1 axis to the X i This robot has high compliance in the x - y
axis about the Zi_ ~ axis (using the right plane in the sense that the arm moves freely to
hand rule) accomplish the assembly task accurately. A robot
Ri-i a 3 × 3 rotation matrix which transforms is said to be of high compliance if the arm moves
any vector with reference to coordinate a lot in response to a small force and the manipu-
frame (Xi, Y~, Z~) to the coordinate sys- lator is then said to be spongy or springy. On the
tem (Xi_l, Y-I' Zi-l) contrary, if it moves a little the compliance is low
Si sine 0~ and the manipulator is said to be stiff.
Sijk sine Oiik = sine{(0i + 0j) + Ok} Fig. 1 illustrates this 2R-P-R robot with 4 axes.
v, linear velocity of the coordinate system The first two axes are actuated by DC servo
(Xi, Y~, Z i) with respect to base coordi- motors through harmonic drives, whose backlash
nate system ( X 0, II0, Z0) is almost zero. These two axes allow the robot to
¢.Oi angular velocity of the coordinate sys- move in a plane parallel to the x-y plane within
tem (X/, Y/, Z i) with respect to base co- the work-space. The z-axis movement is made
ordinate system ( X 0, Yo, Zo) possible by the ball screw which converts the
rotational motion of the motor to translational
motion of the axis. The end effector is rotated by
1. I n t r o d u c t i o n a DC servo motor through a gear box.

In the manufacturing domain assembly plays a

vital role. With the advent of modern computers
and sophisticated robots, assembly automation is
2. P r e v i o u s w o r k
making rapid progress. SCARA is an open loop-
type manipulator that is used for assembly in
production industries successfully. It is composed Roth [1] studied this robot to achieve the opti-
of three revolute joints allowing it to move and mal design for the links to minimize the pick-
orient in the x - y plane, and one prismatic joint and-place motion with digital computer simula-
allows the movement of the end effector in the tion. The goal was to obtain a robot design that
vertical (z-direction) direction. This robot is best will perform the task in the shortest time. The
suited for planar tasks. links were idealized as rigid bodies and secondary

d2
m

d3
t 2 ~ 3 x 3

I
z4
I

I I

Fig. 1. Schematic figure of the S C A R A robot.

 On the dynamicsof SCARA robot 73

effects such as blacklash were ignored. Develop- inverse kinematics of the SCARA robot is dis-
ment of an integrated simulation package has cussed.
been reported from Gold Star Company of South The translational and rotational relationship
Korea, by Lee et al. [2]. The fourth order between the links of this robot are described by
Rungga-Kutta method is employed as the inte- attaching coordinate frames according to the De-
gration technique. The approach is based on the navit-Hartenberg (D-H) notation. The expression
state equations that are integrated to find the for the end effector frame relative to the base
velocity and positions. The acceleration is com- frame is given by the ann matrix (T) as:
puted as a function of motor torque. Callaja et al. T =A ° --A°AI A2A3
--.. 1--12z13~,4,
[3] studied this robot to design the servos for it.
Their study was primarily focussed on the control where
aspects of this robot. The dynamics of this robot
C1 -S I 0 liCl
is studied by Ibrahim et al. [4] using polynomial
and NC2 trajectories. Their work included a soft- Ao = $1 C~ 0 liSt
ware development in FORTRAN 77 to study the 0 0 1 0

[ci
dynamic behavior with links subjected to different 0 0 0 1
velocity trajectories. They used the Lagrangian -S 2 0 12C2 ]
model taking advantage of recursive formulation.
C2 0 12S2/
However, there is no closed solution reported for
the dynamics of this robot. The dynamic study 0
can provide both qualitative and quantitative 0 0
analysis of this robot as well as can guide for a 0 0
better design of this robot. 1 0 0

3. Present work
0
0
1
0
-d 3
°1
1

C~ -$4 0 01
The present analysis of this robot is carried A3= $4 C4 0 0
out to study the dynamic behavior of this robot. 0 1 0
The kinematics is considered first to find the 0 0 1
relationship between the angular displacement
and the position of the end effector, and to Cl24 -5124 0 liC 1 "4-12C12]
achieve this inverse kinematics is employed. The A0 S124 C124 0 llS1 +/2SI2.1.
dynamics study is done using the Newton-Euler 0 0 1 -d2-d3
method. The significance of this study lies in the 0 0 0 -I
fact that it gives insight into the dynamic behavior
The ann matrix (T) can also be expressed in
of this robot.
terms of a hand coordinate system using n, s, a, p
notations where n is the normal vector, s is the
3.1. Kinematic analysis
sliding vector, a is the approach vector and p is
the position vector of the hand.
Robot kinematics deals with the analytical
study of motion of the robot ann with respect to
a fixed reference coordinate system as a function ny Sy ay py
of the time and without regard to the force or T= Sz az .
torque that causes motion. The kinematics can be 0 0
of two types: direct kinematics or inverse kine-
Comparing the T and A ° matrices we have:
matics. In the direct kinematics, the joint and link
parameters are given and the end effector posi- Px = 11C1+/2C12
tion is calculated. In the inverse kinematics the py = llS l +/2S12
joint angles are calculated for a given end effec-
tor positon and link parameters. In this work, the Pz= - d 2 - d 3 "
74 S.K. Padhy

Squaring the terms and by algebraic manipulation

the equations become: R~ = C:
C2= [(r2-12-12)/21112] where r2=p2x +p2, 0

C4 -$4 !]
0 2 = t a n - ' [ + ~/(1 - C22)//C2]
Ol = t a n - ' [ ( - M p . + N p y ) / ( M p y

d3 = - d2 - Pz,
+ Np.]

R 2=
[!o o] 1 0
where M = 12S 2, N = l I + 12C 2.

3.2. D y n a m i c analysis
C12--Sl2
C,2o
0 1

Dynamics is the science of motion which treats RO= R o

[C244
24]C124
motion with regard to the torques applied by the
actuators or by external forces applied to the
manipulator. There are two problems related to
the dynamics of a manipulator. The first one is R°4= SOo
direct dynamics where the torque is calculated
for given values of angular displacement, angular
velocity and acceleration. The second problem is
R[Cl Sly}
0= -S~ Cl
of indirect dynamics where the angular velocity,
0 0
angular displacements and acceleration are calcu-
lated for a given torque.
The dynamic study of a manipulator can be R2= -S 2 Co
done by several methods such as: Lagrange Euler
0 0
(L-E) method, Newton-Euler (N-E) method etc.
However, the L-E method is not commonly used
for real time control as it needs large amount of
computation time and space. The N-E method
involves a set of forward and backward recursive
R 2= [ C~2
-Sl2
0
Sl2
Cxz
0
0]
0
1
equations. The forward recursion propagates the R 3 = R2o .
kinematics information such as velocities and ac-
celerations at the center of mass of each link. The The vectors representing the distance from ( i -
backward recursive formulations propagates the 1)th co-ordinate system to ith co-ordinate system
forces and moments exerted on each link from are given as follows:
the end effector to the base of the robot. It has
observed that the computation time is linearly PI* = [/lCl, l l S l , 0] T
proportional to the number of joints and inde-
P2* = [11C12,/lS12, - d 2 ] T
pendent of the robot arm configuration. It is
feasible to implement this method in real-time p~ = [0, 0, - d 3 ] T
control of the robot. In this paper, the mathemat-
ical formulations of the equation of motion are P4* = [0, 0, 0] T.
derived using the N-E method.

Ro= C1
!]
The rotation matrices are as follows:
[c: s
The following initial conditions are assumed for
the present analysis:
to0 = tb0 = V0 = 0 .

0 Vo = (o, o, g)T.
 On the dynamicsof SCARA robot 75

Forward recursive equations +R3t°3X[(R3ot°a) X~,[R3p *

0 3)]
The forward equations for this robot are evalu-
ated in the following section.
RIotOl=R1o(t%+ZoO,)=[O 0 IIToI
R2oJ2 = R2( RlooJ, + ZOO1)
=[o 0 ~]T(0,+01) RiV4 = ( Ri,;, 4 ) x (Rip:) + (Rio,,)
× [(R4t04) × (R4p:)] + R4(R3I,:'3)
R3a13=R32(R2t02)=[O 0 1 IT(01 + 02)
= [/|(}'tS24 - 11(}2C24
R~t04= g4( Rato3 + Zo04)
=[0 0 1]T(01+0l+04)
R~&I=R~[&o+Zo(}" ' +too×Zo0,] l~(}'lCz4 + 1102S24
= [0 0 1]T0"l
R~dJz=R~[RlodJ, + Zo(}"2 + (R~to,)× Zo02]
The position of the center of mass of link i from
=Io o 1F(o,+o2) the origin of the co-ordinate system (X~, Y~, Z~) is
denoted as % For this robot, we have:
R3do3 =R3[R~&2] = [0 0 1]T((}', + (}'2)
e I = [-11C1/2, -11Sff2, 0] T
Rio>, = R~[Ro~.>, + ZoO~+ (Ro~O~,)×ZOO,] e 2 = [-12C12/2, -12S12/2, dE] T
=[o o ~1~(o,+o1+(}i,) e 3 = [0, 0,/3/2] T

RioV, = (Rio &,) X (R1oP~) e 4 = [0, 0, 0] v.

Now, computing the linear accelerations at the
+ (R~oJ,) × [(R~)to,) X (R~p~)]
center of the mass for the four links we have:
+ R~(R~I2o) Rloal = (Rlthl) X (Rlel) + (glotol)
= [-lld2,11(}',, g] T X [(R~to 1) X (Rloel)] + (R~I,:'~)
R~oV~= ( R'o6~) × ( R'op~ )
+ (R2,to2) × [(Ro20J2) × (R20P~)] R~a 2 = ( R2to2 ) X ( RE e2 ) + ( R2to2 )
× [(R8,ol) × (g2oel] + (RgV'I)
= [110"1S2-11d2C2-12(01 +02)2,
I
= 11(}',Sl-1,0~C2-12(0, +02) /2,

'2(0"1+0"2) +I1021S2+11(}'1C2,g] T
Rav3 = Ra(Zo(}'3 + R2I,;'2) + (Ra&3) × (RapS) R3a3 = (R~&3) × (R3e3) + (R3to3)
+ [2(so~) × (R~Zo0~)] × [(RSota3) × (R~oe,] + (R3I/3)
+ n~oJ z × [(R~oJs) × (R~p~)] = R3I,;'3

= R~(R~C~,) + (R~<o,) x (R~op~) = [ 1,(}',$2-1,021C2-12(0, + 0 ll ) ,

76 S.K. Padhy

110"1C2.+1102S2-[-12{0"1-.k 0"2), g} T

R4aa = (R4d94) X (R4e4) + (R4w4)

(x +ml)g
]y ,
×[(R40j4) x (Rae4] + (R4V4)
= R41,)4 where: x = m2-~t- m3-.l- m 4~
y = m2/2 + m 3 + m 4.
= [llfflS24 - lld~C24
The moments exerted on the links are calculated
-12((tJ, "1-02)2C4- (0". "}-0"2}S4}, as follows:
llO"lCa + 1102Sz4 R4n4 -- R~[ RSon5 + (RSop:) × (R~f s)]
..i._12(({jl..i._~j2)254"l-(b'l ..1_0.2)C4}, g]T. + ( R4p: + R4e4) X (m4R4a4)
+ J, n g < + [(Ra~4) xJ,(Rgo,,)],
Backward recursive equations
Backward equations for the links are dealt where J i --RoliRi,
i o i = 1, 2, 3, 4.
with in the following section. Assuming no load
condition f5 and n5 are zero. Assuming the J4 is very small in comparison to
n4 f4 = Ra( Rgf 5) + m4Rga 4 other moment of inertia terms, the Rgn4 term is
evaluated to be:
=m4Rga4
Ran4 = 0
= m4[110"1S24 -/1012C24
Although the robot links are not always cylindri-
cal, in this analysis they are considered to be
cylindrical for the sake of simplicity. A link with
/10"1C24+ 11{j2524 other shapes can be transformed into an equiva-
lent cylindrical shape to use the derived results in
this paper.

R3of3 = R3(R4oA) + m3Raa 3 R3n3 = R34[R4n4 + ( Rgp~ ) × ( Rgf4 )]

= (m3 + m,>[1,0"1S2-l,0~C2-12(0,
+/j=)2, 3 * + R3e3) × (m3R3a3)
+ (RoP3

,,o,c= +,,(o, + ,IT + J~ Rg ~ + [(Rb,,) × j,(Rgo,,)]

= {d3(m 2 + ~14) rn313/2 }
R~f 2 = R2( R30f3) + m=R~a 2
- -

= [{x{I,O",S 2 -1,0~C2)- Y12{/~,+/J2)2},

o1"
R~/', = R;(Ro=A) + m,R~,,, RZon2 = R~[ R3n3 + ( R3p~ ) × ( R3 fa) ]
= l {-l,O}( x + m,/2) +(R~p~ + R~e2) × (m2R~a2)
--y12((01 "l-02)ac2-'~ (0"1-I'-02)$2)}, + J2Ro~2 + [(no=,,2) x 4(no~,,,2)]

{ l,0",(x + m,/2)
 On the dynamics o f S C A R A robot 77

80.000

60.000

40.000 Lhnk 1

.~ 20.000
E
Z :J:ll .... ~ Link 2

0.000
D
Cr
©
~ -~0.000 V
-.40.000

-60.000

-80.000 iiii iiiil|lll I[lllll Ii'lll Ill )Ill Illl IIiiiiil[lllllllll

0.000 0.500 l.O00 1.500 2.000 2.500 3.000 3,600 4,000 4.500 5.000 5,500
Tirne (secon,:Is)

Fig. 2. Torque variations with time.

~(-110"1S2 +11021C2+12(01 +(92) 2) +(122A + IllzC2Y)O 2

-lzgy, 12y(llfflC2 + ltO~S2 ) + I~A(O"1 + O"z )]",

In calculating the joint torques, the viscous effect
where /2 = dz(m 3 + m4) + d3(m3 + m4) at the joints is neglected. The torque at joint 1 is:
-m313/2
A = m2/3 + m 3 + m 4 F1 = [ Rlonl]T ( RloZo)
= (12(x + m i / 3 ) + l~A + 21,12C2y)0" ,
R'n 1 = RI[ R2n2 + (R2p~) × (R2f2)]
+(l~A + 1,12C2Y)O"2 -1,12S2Y02(20 , + O'z).
+( RloP~ + Rloel) × (mlRloal)
Similarly the torque at the joint 2 is given as:
+ JtRlo(Ol + [ ( R g t o l ) x Jl(R~tOl)]
r2=[R2n2]T(R~Zo)
= (lllzyC2 + l~a)0"l + 12A02 + lllzySzOZ~.
+/2gyS 2 , There is no torque on link 3; rather, a force acts
+ + to move the link 3 in a vertical direction.
F3[R~f3]T(R32Zo)
- l a g ( X + yC a + m l / 2 ),
=(m3 +m4)g
{(12(x + m l / 3 ) +12A + 21112Czy)0" , = meffg.
78 S.K Padhy

4. Discussion added to the mass of the link-3 for all analysis

purposes and there is no coupling between the
The configuration of the S C A R A robot shows second and third link. Another fact that is re-
no coupling between the second and third link. vealed is that the torques are independent of
For this reason, the effective mass of the third angular positions and this makes the robot very
link can be added to that of second link while compliant. With same initial angular positions,
determining the torques. This fact is clear from and angular accelerations for link 1 and link 2, it
the torque equations. The third link has motion is found that the torque of link ! and link 2 are
in the vertical direction and no horizontal compo- out of phase by 180 degrees. With increased time,
nents. It is evident that there is no torque re- there is a trend of increasing difference between
quired for driving this link. Rather a force is these two torques.
required to achieve the vertical motion.
the torque-time analysis is carried out taking
the link lengths of 0.35 and 0.3 meters for link 1 References
and link 2 respectively; the initial position for
both link 1 and link 2 is 0 radian; masses of link [1] B. Roth, Control and mechanics of simple manipulator
systems, in: Hanfusa and Inoue, eds., Robotic Research
1, link 2, link 3 and link 4 are 10 kg, 5 kg and 0.5 (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1985).
kg respectively. The angular accelerations of link [2] M.K. Lee, C.N. Lee and K.Y. Lim, Development of a Fully
1 and link 2 are assigned to be 1 r a d / s e c 2. Fig. 2 Integrated Simulation Package for Industrial Robot (KACC,
illustrates the variation of the torques with time. Seoul, 1988).
It is found that the torque of link 1 and link 2 are [3] R.G. Calleja, J.C.F. Marinero and R.D.O. Martinez, Sim-
ulation of a SCARA robot, in: M. Jamshidi, J.Y.S. Luh
out of phase by 180 degrees, and the magnitude and M. Shahinpoor, eds., Recent Trends in Robotics, Mod-
of the torque of link 1 is higher than the torque elling, Control and Eduction (North-Holland, Amsterdam,
requirement for link 2. There is an increasing 1986).
difference in the two torques as time increased. [4] M.Y. Ibrahim, C. Cook and K. Tieu, Dynamic behavior of
a SCARA robot with links subjected to different velocity
and trajectories, Robotica, Int. J. of Information, Educa-
tion and Research in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence
5. Conclusion (1988).
[5] K.S. Fu, Gonzalez, and C.S.G. Lee, Robotics Control,
The kinematics and dynamics of the S C A R A Sensing, Vision, and Intelligence (McGraw Hill, New York,
assembly robot are studied, and the dynamic 1987).
[6] J.J. Craig, Introduction to Robotics, Mechanics and Control
equations of motions are derived using Newton- (Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1989).
Euler method. From the dynamic equations it is [7] K. Wolff, Robots score big in PCB assembly, Manufactur-
found that the mass if the fourth link can be ing Engineering (1989).