Acta Astronautica 68 (2011) 1147–1155

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Acta Astronautica
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/actaastro

Dynamics analysis of space robot manipulator with joint clearance

Yang Zhao, Zheng Feng Bai n
Department of Astronautic Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, Heilongjiang, PR China

a r t i c l e in f o abstract

Article history: A computational methodology for analysis of space robot manipulator systems, con-
Received 21 December 2009 sidering the effects of the clearances in the joint, is presented. The contact dynamics
Received in revised form model in joint clearance is established using the nonlinear equivalent spring-damp model
22 September 2010
and the friction effect is considered using the Coulomb friction model. The space robot
Accepted 5 October 2010
Available online 3 November 2010
system dynamic equation of manipulator with clearance is established. Then the
dynamics simulation is presented and the dynamics characteristics of robot manipulator
Keywords: with clearance are analyzed. This work provides a practical method to analyze the
Joint clearance dynamics characteristics of space robot manipulator with joint clearance and improves
Space robotics
the engineering application. The computational methodology can predict the effects of
Contact
clearance on space robot manipulator preferably, which is the basis of space robot
Robot dynamics
Dynamics simulation manipulator design, precision analysis and ground test.
& 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction motion of the mechanism with clearances, confirming the

In general dynamic analysis of robot space manipulator
systems it is assumed that the kinematic joints are ideal or
perfect, that is, clearance, local deformations and wear
effects are neglected. However, the clearances in mechan-
ism are unavoidable due to the assemblage, manufacturing
errors and wear [1–11]. Such clearance is necessary to
allow the relative motion between the connected bodies
and to permit the components assemblage as well. The
clearance occurs in each active joint with the movement of
mechanism. The movements of the real mechanism are
deflected from the ideal mechanism and the motion
accuracy is decreased due to the joint clearances. The
existence of clearance in joints also leads to the impact
dynamic load, and affects the transfer of the system load
and the destruction and failure of the mechanism. The
requirement of predicting the system dynamics is very
urgent. There are two possible ways to solve the problem
[12]: one is improving the manufacturing precision, but it is
unrealistic for cost and the other is analyzing the relative
n
Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +86 451 8640 2079.
E-mail address: baizhengfeng@126.com (Z.F. Bai).
main factor affecting the dynamic characteristics of the
mechanism, designing the rational mechanism to reduce
the impact of the clearances as much as possible. The
second method has great value to mechanism design.
Hence the study on mechanism dynamics with joint
clearance is important and necessary.
Robot manipulators are widely used for help when in
dangerous, monotonous and tedious jobs. The dynamics of
manipulator are studied in Refs. [13–17], in which the
flexible link, dynamics modeling and control of manipu-
lator are studied; however, the joints of robot manipulator
are considered perfect, and there are no considerations on
the clearances at the joints. These studies have been less
focused on the effects of clearances on dynamics charac-
teristics of the robot manipulator system. As a matter of
fact, the impacts within the machine joints with clearances
lead to the degradation of the overall system performance.
Kosuge et al. [18] analyzed the precision of planar
manipulator on silicon. They expressed the inaccuracy of
the manipulator as the sum of the inaccuracies introduced
by the clearance of different joints of the mechanism. Ting
et al. [19] modeled the joints clearance by a small link with
the length equal to half of the joints clearance. Based on this
assumption, they gave the limits of the uncertain pose of

0094-5765/$ - see front matter & 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2010.10.004
1148 Y. Zhao, Z.F. Bai / Acta Astronautica 68 (2011) 1147–1155

the end effector. Zhu and Ting [20] presented a probability

density function (PDF) to examine the performance uncer-
tainty caused by the joint clearance in robot. Chebbi et al.
[21] dealt with the prediction of the pose error due to the
joints clearance for a 3-UPU parallel robot; they focused on
the development of an analytical predictive model for the
pose error. Flores and Ambrosio [22] presented a computa-
tional methodology for dynamic analysis of multibody
mechanical systems with joint clearance. Parenti-Castelli
and Venanzi [23] presented a new method based on the
principle of virtual work for studying the kinematic
influence of clearance affected pairs on the position and
orientation of the links of spatial mechanisms. In conclu-
sion, modeling and dynamics analysis of imperfect joints
with clearance are of great importance in the design and Fig. 1. Schematic representation of a revolute joint with clearance.
the control of space robot manipulator system.
This paper focuses on the dynamics characteristics of
space robot manipulator with joint clearance. The contact Bear Journal
dynamics model in the clearance is established using the
nonlinear spring-damp model and the friction effect is
considered using the Coulomb friction model. Then the
eij Oj
dynamics model of robot manipulator system with clear- ey
ance is established and the dynamics simulation is pre-
sented. Finally, the effects of clearance on the dynamics Oi
characteristics of manipulator are analyzed and discussed.
The regularities of contact forces in clearance are studied in ex
detail, and the effects of clearance size on the manipulator
dynamics characteristic are analyzed.
rjo
2. Dynamics modeling of space robot manipulator
system with clearance rio
Y
2.1. Definition of clearance

The existence of clearance in the joints of space robot X

manipulator is inevitable. The joint clearance of robot
manipulator system is necessary to allow relative motion
of the connected bodies, as well as to permit the assem-
blage of the multibody system. Clearance also exists due to
manufacturing tolerances, imperfections, wear and mate-
rial deformation. It is known that the performance of a
space robot manipulator is degraded by the presence of the
clearance due to the impact force, which contributes to
bearing failure due to the shock loading, to reduce the life
due to the material fatigue, causing energy dissipation and
to excite unwanted shake responses.
In general, a clearance joint can be included in a robot
manipulator much like a revolute joint. The classical approach,
known as zero-clearance approach, considers that the con-
necting points of two bodies linked by a revolute joint are
coincident. The introduction of the clearance in a joint
separates these two points. Fig. 1 depicts a revolute joint
with clearance. The difference in radius between the bearing
and the journal defines the size of the radial clearance [3,9,24].
Although, a revolute joint with clearance does not constraint
any degree of freedom from the mechanical system like the
ideal joint, it imposes some kinematic restrictions, limiting the
journal to move within the bearing. Thus, when clearance is
present in a revolute joint, the two kinematic constraints are
removed and two degrees of freedom are introduced instead.
The dynamics of the joint is then controlled by forces working
O
Fig. 2. Clearance model in revolution joint of mechanical system.
on the journal and the bearing. Thus, whilst a perfect revolute
joint in a mechanical system imposes kinematic constraints, a
revolute clearance joint leads to force constraints. When
contact exists between the journal and bearing, a contact
force is applied perpendicular to the plane of collision.
Therefore, the motion of manipulator with clearance
always includes contact/impact process. The key point of
dynamics model for robot manipulator with clearance is to
incorporate the clearance model and the dynamics model,
which needs the accurate definition of the contact/impact
process in the joint clearance. The clearance is defined as
follows:
c ¼ RB RJ ð1Þ
where RB and RJ are the radius of bearing and journal.
2.2. Mathematic model of joint with clearance
As shown in Fig. 2, Oi and Oj donate the center of bear
and journal, respectively, r oi and r oj are the vectors donating
the positions of bear and journal in the global inertia
coordinate, respectively. Hence in Fig. 2, the clearance
 Y. Zhao, Z.F. Bai / Acta Astronautica 68 (2011) 1147–1155 1149

vector [25,26] is where the unit tangential vector t can be obtained by

reversing the unit normal vector n for 901.
eij ¼ r oi r oj ð2Þ

where eij represents the eccentric vector of shaft relative to

bear. So the eccentricity of clearance vector can be stated as 2.3. Model for contact force in clearance
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
eij ¼ e2x þ e2y ð3Þ To evaluate efficiently the contact forces between the
bearing and journal in a revolute joint with clearance,
The unit normal vector of bear and journal at the point of
special attention must be given to the numerical descrip-
their contact is stated as:
tion of the contact model [3,27,28]. Information on the
n ¼ eij =eij ð4Þ impact velocity, material properties of the colliding bodies
eij and geometry characteristics of the surfaces in contact
that is n ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ffi
2 2
ex þ ey must be included into the force contact model. These
Fig. 3 describes the collision between bear and journal characteristics are observed with a continuous contact
and r Qi and rQj are the positional vectors of the bear and force, in which the deformation and contact force are
journal, respectively, which are described in global coor- considered as continuous functions.
dinate frame. The contact penetration depth caused by The simplest contact force model is spring-damp model,
collision between bear and journal can be described as which is modeled by a parallel spring-damp element. The
spring represents the elasticity of the contacting bodies,
d ¼ eij c ð5Þ
and the damper describes the loss of kinetic energy during
where c represents the clearance, it is a constant. the impact. The contact force depends on the stiff and damp
Therefore, d can be used to decide whether the bear and properties of the spring. The expression of the contact
journal have collided. The kinematic contact condition model considering the clearance using the spring-damp
between the bear and journal can be given by model is generally as follows [9,29–31]:
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
F n ¼ F k þF d ¼ kn d þ cðdÞd_
m
d ¼ e2x þ e2y c Z 0 ð6Þ ð8Þ

It is important to estimate the loss of energy in the where Fn is the normal contact force, Fd the damp force, kn
course of contact between bear and journal; hence it is the generalized contact stiffness, d the penetration depth,
necessary to calculate the relative velocity between their c(d) the damp factor related with d and m the exponent.
surfaces. When we project d to the facet of contact, we can The best-known contact force law between two spheres of
get the normal velocity and tangential velocity of the isotropic material is due to the pioneering work of Hertz. The
potential points of contact between the bear and journal: normal contact/impact force is defined by the Hertz contact
theory. The nonlinear normal contact/impact force Fk, known
vn ¼ ðdÞT n_ as the Hertz force-displacement law, is evaluated as a function
vt ¼ ðdÞT t_ ð7Þ of indentation between two colliding bodies as follows:
1:5
F k ¼ kn d ð9Þ
t n
Journal where d is the penetration depth. The exponent m is generally

set to 1.5.
In order to overcome the limitations of the linear damp
Bear Qi
Qj model and to satisfy the boundary conditions, the damp
force Fd is defined, using the nonlinear damp model, as
follows:
Oj
eij F d ¼ cðdÞd_ ð10Þ

where c(d) is the damp factor related with d. In this paper,

Oi
c(d) is defined as follows:
3=2
cðdÞ ¼ 0:75ð1e2 Þkn d =v0 ð11Þ
rQ
riQ j
where e is the coefficient of restitution and v0 the initial
impact velocity.
The tangential friction force, known as the Coulomb, is
evaluated as follows:
Y
F t ¼ md F n sgnðvÞ
_
vðq, q,tÞa0 ð12Þ
X
_
where sgn(v) is a sign function, vðq, q,tÞa0 the relative slip
O
velocity between the contact points of the bodies and md
Fig. 3. Revolution joint clearance with contact. the coefficient of sliding friction.
1150 Y. Zhao, Z.F. Bai / Acta Astronautica 68 (2011) 1147–1155

2.4. Equations of motion for robot manipulator with clearance
The dynamics model of robot manipulator is established
considering the clearance model. The clearance of joint
leads to two different motion phases of bodies connected
with the clearance joint: one is the bodies move free in the
clearance and the other is the bodies contact and interact.
So the robot manipulator system with clearances between
bodies is a variable topology system.
The variable topology system of manipulator system is
solved using the dynamic segmentation modeling method.
Therefore, the dynamic equation is obtained using the
Lagrange multiplier method.
In the free motion phase, the dynamic equation is
M q€ þ C q_ þ Kqþ UTq l ¼ f
Fðq,tÞ ¼ 0
where q is the generalized coordinate column matrix, M, C
and K are the generalized mass matrix, generalized damp
matrix and generalized stiffness matrix, respectively, Fq is
Table 3 presents the parameters used in the dynamics
simulation of the space robot manipulator. In this work,
the simulation of space robot manipulator system with joint
clearance is considered as plane mechanical system and the
dynamic simulation used ADAMS, a mechanical system
simulation software package.
3.2. Simulation results
3.2.1. Dynamics characteristic analysis of space robot
manipulator with clearance
In order to study the effects of clearance on the
dynamics characteristics of space robot manipulator, this
work chooses clearance c = 0.2 mm and makes dynamic
simulation for the manipulator with clearances and the
ð13Þ
Table 1
Geometric and mass properties of the manipulator system.
Arm 1 Arm_2

the Jacobin matrix of constraint equation, f the generalized Length (m) 0.8 1.0
force matrix and l the Lagrange multiplier column matrix. Width (m) 0.02 0.02
In contact phase, the bodies contact and interact. Thus Thickness (m) 0.02 0.02
the contact forces exist in the clearances. The dynamic Density (kg/m3) 2699.0 2699.0
Modulus of elasticity, E (N/m2) 6.895  1010 6.895  1010
equation is
Poisson ratio, g 0.3 0.3
M q€ þ C q_ þ Kqþ UTq l ¼ f þ F c
Fðq,tÞ ¼ 0 ð14Þ
Table 2
where Fc is the contact force relative to q, which contains Mass and inertia properties of spacecraft.
both normal contact force Fn and tangential friction force Ft.
Mass (kg) 1738.6

3. Dynamics simulation of robot manipulator with Jx (kg/m2) 2903.4

Jy (kg/m2) 1902.03
clearance
Jz (kg/m2) 3315.39
Jxy (kg/m2) 2.9
3.1. Properties of space robot manipulator system Jyz (kg/m2) 82.7
Jzx (kg/m2) 82.7
The space robot manipulator system in this work has a
spacecraft body and two flexible link arms. Fig. 4 shows the
configuration of the space robot manipulator system, which Table 3
consists of two flexible manipulator arms. In this work, the Parameters used in the dynamics simulation of the space robot
arms are considered as flexible bodies and the spacecraft is manipulator.
considered as rigid body. The joint between arm 1 and
Drive torque, T1 (Nm) 0.2 sin(2pt)
manipulator root is considered as ideal joint, i.e. there is no
clearance in this joint, and the joint between arms 1 and 2 is Drive torque, T2 (Nm) 0.05 sin(2pt)
considered as real joint, i.e. there is a clearance in this joint. Contact stiffness, K (N/m) 6.75  106
The mass and geometric properties of the space robot Damp factor, C (Ns/m) 175
Friction coefficient, md 0.1
manipulator system are shown as follows (Tables 1 and 2).

clearance

Spacecraft Arm_1 Arm_2

ideal joint_1 clearance joint_2

Fig. 4. Sketch map of space robot manipulator system with clearance ( the joint clearance zoom-in).
 Y. Zhao, Z.F. Bai / Acta Astronautica 68 (2011) 1147–1155 1151

ideal manipulator without clearance, the simulation
results are as follows.
Fig. 5 shows that the angle displacement curves of robot
manipulator are almost completely a coincidence between
the real manipulator with clearance and the ideal manip-
ulator without clearance. It indicates that the clearance has
less effect on angle displacement of manipulator. Fig. 6
shows that the effects of clearance on the angular velocity
of robot manipulator are obvious. The angular velocity of
manipulator is shaky around the ideal angular velocity of
manipulator, which will lead to effects on the movement
accuracy. Fig. 7 shows that the effects of clearance on the
angular acceleration are extraordinarily obvious. The angu-
lar acceleration of manipulator with clearance is obviously
shake and the amplitude is increased from the manipulator
without clearance, which indicate that the existence of
clearance will lead to oscillation of the manipulator move-
ment and influence the movement stability of the manip-
ulator. Fig. 8 shows that the existence of clearance leads to
impulse type clearance contact force and the contact force
is high-frequency shake, and the contact force is increased.
The reason is that the value of radial clearance in the
joint is very small, which is 0.2 mm; the force of clearance
collisions is only a local effect; each collision has very short
time, small impulse; so it leads to slight effects on the
angular displacement of manipulator, but more and
severer effects on the angular velocity and angular accel-
eration of manipulator. The results verify that the angular
velocity and angular acceleration are sensitive to the
clearance and the effects of clearance on angular velocities
and angular acceleration of the robot manipulator system
are severer than the effects of clearance on angular
displacement of the robot manipulator system.
It indicates that the existence of clearance will lead to
the impact dynamic load and affect the movement accu-
racy and stability of space robot manipulator, which will
lead to the destruction and failure of the space robot
manipulator.

Fig. 5. Angular displacement of space robot manipulator (clearance is 0.2 mm in nonideal joint): (a) Arm_1 and (b) Arm_2.

Fig. 6. Angular velocity of space robot manipulator (clearance is 0.2 mm in nonideal joint): (a) Arm_1 and (b) Arm_2.
1152 Y. Zhao, Z.F. Bai / Acta Astronautica 68 (2011) 1147–1155

Fig. 7. Angular acceleration of space robot manipulator (clearance is 0.2 mm in nonideal joint): contact force (a) without joint clearance (Arm_1) and
(b) with joint clearance (Arm_2) (clearance is 0.2 mm in nonideal joint).

Fig. 8. Contact force in clearance joint 2: (a) contact force without joint clearance and (b) contact force with joint clearance (clearance is 0.2 mm in
nonideal joint).
 Y. Zhao, Z.F. Bai / Acta Astronautica 68 (2011) 1147–1155 1153

3.2.2. Effects of clearance size on dynamics characteristic of
space robot manipulator
In order to study the effects of clearance size on the space
robot manipulator dynamics characteristics, this work
increases the size of clearance to c=0.4 mm and makes
dynamic simulation. The simulation results are shown as
follows.
Fig. 9 shows that the clearance size has slight effects on
the angular displacement of space robot manipulator.
Figs. 10 and 11 show the higher size of clearance, the
more obvious shake and higher amplitude of angular
velocity and angular acceleration of robot manipulator,
but lower shake frequency, which is due to the bearing and
the journal that have longer time to contact with each other
when the clearance is higher. Thus the shake periodic is
longer, and the angular velocity and angular acceleration of
the manipulator have lower shake frequency. Fig. 12 shows
that the existence of clearance leads to impulse type
clearance contact force and the contact force is high-
frequency shake. It indicates the higher size of clearance,
the higher contact force and the lower contact frequency,
which are due to the clearance that leads to translational
displacement and velocity of manipulator arms, when the
size of clearance is big, the translational time of manip-
ulator arms is long, and hence there is long translational
velocity. Therefore, the higher the size of clearance, the
lower the contact frequency, but the contact force is higher.
The results indicate that the dynamics characteristics of
space robot manipulator are obviously different with the
different sizes of clearance, and higher size of clearance has
severe effects on the dynamics characteristics of the space
robot manipulator.
4. Conclusions
In this paper, the effects of joint clearance on space robot
manipulator system are studied. A computational metho-
dology for the analysis of space robot manipulator systems,

Fig. 9. Angular displacement of space robot manipulator: (a) Arm_1 and (b) Arm_2.

Fig. 10. Angular velocity of space robot manipulator: (a) Arm_1 and (b) Arm_2.
1154 Y. Zhao, Z.F. Bai / Acta Astronautica 68 (2011) 1147–1155

Fig. 11. Angular acceleration of space robot manipulator: contact force (a) without joint clearance (Arm_1) and (b) with joint clearance (Arm_2).

Fig. 12. Contact force in clearance joint 2 (X direction): (a) contact force without joint clearance and (b) contact force with joint clearance..

considering the effects of the clearance in the joint, is
presented. The contact dynamics model in the joint clear-
ance is established using the nonlinear equivalent spring-
damp model and the friction effect is considered using the
Coulomb friction model. Then the dynamics simulation is
presented and the results show that the clearance has
obvious effects on the dynamics characteristics. (1) The
clearance has slight effects on angle displacement of robot
manipulator. (2) The effects of clearance on the angular
velocity of robot manipulator are obvious. The angular
velocity of robot manipulator is shaky around the ideal
angular velocity of robot manipulator. (3) The effects of
clearance on the angular acceleration are extraordinarily
obvious. The angular acceleration of manipulator with
clearance is obviously shaky and the amplitude is
increased. It can be found that the angular velocity and
angular acceleration are sensitive to the clearance, and it
indicates that the existence of clearance will lead to the
impact dynamic load, and influences the movement accu-
racy and stability of the space robot manipulator, which
will lead to the destruction and failure of the space robot
manipulator.
The existence of clearance leads to the joint contact
force increase, and the clearance induces impulse type
clearance contact force and the contact force is high-
frequency shake. Higher size of clearance induces high-
frequency shakes and larger shake amplitudes of the
angular velocity and angular acceleration of manipulator,
but lower shake frequency; higher size of clearance leads to
higher contact force and lower contact frequency.
The dynamics model of the space robot manipulator
with joint clearance describes the dynamics characteristics
of the space robot manipulator system more realistically.
The dynamics analysis of space robot manipulator with
joint clearance is the basis of the motion accuracy analysis
of space robot manipulator system and it is useful for the
control system design of space robot manipulator and
ground text. This work provides a practical method to
analyze the dynamics characteristics of space robot manip-
ulator with joint clearance and improves the engineering
 Y. Zhao, Z.F. Bai / Acta Astronautica 68 (2011) 1147–1155
application, which put forward up space robot system to
the practical engineering.
Acknowledgments
This research is supported by the National Natural
Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 50975056) and
the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative
Research Team in University (PCSIRT).
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