Proceedings of the 2002 IEEE

International Conference on Robotics 8 Automation

Washington, DC May 2002

A Novel Solution for the Dynamic Modeling of Gough-Stewart Manipulators

Wisama KHALIL, Sylvain GUEGAN

Ecole Centrale de Nantes

IRCCyN U.M.R. C.N.R.S. 6597
1 Rue de la Noe, BP 92101,44321Nantes Cedex 03,FRANCE
wisama.khalil@irccyn. ec-nantes.fr

Abstract are obtained in terms of the Cartesian inertia and forces of

the legs as perceived at the points connecting the platform
This paper presents a closed form solution for the and the legs. Consequently, the computational complexity
inverse and direct dynamic models of Gough-Stewart of the obtained models can make use of the techniques,
Platform. The models are calculated in terms of the which were developed many years ago for the serial
Cartesian dynamic model elements of the legs and of the robots.
Newton-Euler equation of the platform. The final form This method has been applied in this paper to the six
has an interesting physical interpretation, which can be degree of freedom (d.0.f) Cough-Stewart manipulator, but
used to derive the dynamic models of other parallel it can be generalized for most fully parallel structure.
structures.
2 Description of the robot
1 Introduction
The 6 d.o.€. Cough-Stewart manipulator is composed
The inverse dynamic modeling is important for high of a moving platform connected to a fixed base by six
performance control algorithms, and the direct dynamic extendable legs. The extremities of each leg are fitted
model is required for their simulation. The dynamic with a 2 d.0.f. universal joint at the base and a 3 d.0.f.
modeling of parallel manipulators presents an inherent spherical joint at the platform (fig. 1). The lengths of the
complexity due to their closed-loop structure and legs are actuated using active prismatic joint.
kinematic constraints. To obtain the dynamics of parallel
Motorized Spherical
robots, many methods have used the classical procedure prismatle joint joint
of computing the dynamic model of an equivalent tree
structure, then the system constraints are considered by
the Lagrange multipliers [l-51. The principle of virtual
work have been used in [6,7], such technique has the
advantage that it does not need to open the closed loop
structure into a tree-structure. The Newton-Euler
formulation has been applied as well, for instance: Fig I : 6 d.0.f Gough-Stewart manipulator
- Reboulet et al. [SI have given an interesting matrix
:...--
c__.....
,_-- Isolated platform .
_____ .>
formulation for Stewart parallel manipulator but they -._. ----
..___..
assumed some simplifications such as neglecting the I 1 2 3 4 5 6
piston rod mass.
- Gosselin [9] has proposed an inverse dynamic model for
a general Stewart parallel manipulator in which all masses Motorized
and inertias are considered. The direct dynamic problem prismatic join
has not been considered. Universal
- Dasgupta et al. [ 101 have proposed closed form dynamic joint

equations of the general Stewart platform. They applied

their algorithm to several planar and spatial parallel robots
[I 11.
- Ji [ 121 has discussed the influence of the leg inertia in a
dynamic model.
This paper proposes a closed form solution for the
complete inverse and direct dynamic models. The models
Fig. 2: Minimal equivalent tree structure
The universal joint center and the sphericaljoint center
are denoted by B, and P, (i = 1 to 6) respectively. The
robot has a complex structure with five spatial closed

0-7803-7272-7/02/$17.00 0 2002 IEEE 817

loops. It is composed of 6 active joints and 30 passive
joints. The minimal equivalent tree structure is
constructed by isolating the platform (Fig. 2). It is
composed of the base and the six legs leading to 6 active
joints and 12 passive joints. In this structure the passive
spherical joints have been removed.

For the modeling studies, we define frame Fo fixed

with the base and frame F, fixed with the mobile
platform. To minimize the number of geometric
parameters, which are not equal to zero, we place these
frames as follows (fig. 3) [13,14]. Fig. 4: Link frames of one leg
- The origin of frame Fo is B1, the xo axis is along BIBz
and the (x0,yo) plane is defined by (B~,Bz,B~).
- The origin of frame F, is PI, the x, axis is along PIP2 and
the (xp,yp)plane is defined by (P&,P6).
The axes of the first rotational joint of each leg are placed
as shown in figure 3. fori= 1, ..., 6 and g l l =b l l = d l l =gI2=b12=b16=0
Table 1: Geometric parameters of the leg i frames

3 Kinematic modeling
The following notations are used:
Fig. 3.: Base frame FOand Platform frame Fp
Each leg is composed of a serial structure with three
joints and three moving links. Khalil and Kleinfinger
notation [15, 161 can be used to describe the geometry of
the tree structure of figure 2. The definitions of the local
link frames are given in figure 4, while the geometric
parameters are given in table 1. The parameters of table 1
are:
a(j) denotes the frame antecedent to frame j,
p(j) and 00) describe the type of joint:
- p(j) = 1 if joint j is active and p(j) = 0 if it is passive,
- d (j) = 1 if joint j is prismatic and o (i) = 0 if it is
revolute,
,,
The parameters (uj, b j, a,, d 8 j, r j) are used to determine
the location of frame Fj with respect to its antecedent Fi. It
unit vector along the leg i axis,
represents the position vector PIPi referred to
frame Fo,
designates the vector product (3x3) skew matrix
associated with the vector Pi ,
linear velocity of the origin of the platform, with
respect to frame Fo
angular velocity of the platform,
linear acceleration of the origin of the platform,
angular acceleration of the platform,
(6x1) spatial velocity vector. It is composed of
the linear and the angular velocities of the
platform:
(6x1) spatial acceleration vector. It is composed
of the linear and the angular accelerations of the
platform:

is written as: (3)

linear velocity of point Pi:

= OvV, + Oy xoP, (4)
Where: linear acceleration of point Pi:
is the (3x3) rotation matrix, which defines the O V * ' = O V P + OhpXOPi + O w , x ( 0 0 , X"') (5)
'R,
orientation of frame F, with respect to frame Fi. It can also be written by:
'p, is the (3x1) translation matrix, which defines the
0 V n =[I, -oP,]v+ 0% x ( o w , x OP,) (6)
position of the origin of frame Fi with respect to
frame Fi. Where 13 is the (3x3) identity matrix.

818
L (6x1) vector of the motorizedjoint variable Li: Substituting equation (6) into equation (1 3), we obtain the
L = [L, .-. LJ joint accelerations of leg i in terms of the spatial
acceleration of the platform:
qi (3x1) vector of the joint velocities of the leg i :
qi = 'J; ([I3 -'Pi]6+ '0, X ( ' ~ X ~ P , ) - ~ J (14)
,~~,)
ili = [ a i i12i qsi]T
qi (3x1) vector of the joint acceleration of the leg i :
4 Inverse dynamic model
i i i =[iili iili ii3il'

The inverse dynamic model gives the motorized forces

The following models are well known and have a
unique solution [ 16,171:
i) The inverse geometric model of the robot, which gives
the prismatic variables L, (i = 1 to 6) as a function of the
homogeneous transformation OTPof frame F, with respect
to frame Fo. It is denoted as:
L = F(OT,) (7)
ii) The inverse kinematic model of the robot, which gives
the velocities of the actuator ( Li = q3i, i = 1 to 6 ) as a
function of the spatial velocity of the platform:
L==J;z) (8)
The inverse Jacobian matrix is given as:
I...... 1
as a function of the desired trajectory of the mobile
platform. It is denoted as r = f ( OTP, U, ~).
Each leg can be considered as a serial structure
composed of three links and three joints (2 passive
revolute joints and 1 active prismatic joint) (fig. 5).
Using the inverse geometric and kinematic models of
the legs we can compute the joint positions, velocities and
accelerations of the legs (qi,qi,qi)in terms of the
platform trajectory.
Since the platform and the legs are connected by
spherical joints, then the reaction moments between them
are zero [8,9]. Consequently, only pure force fi can exist
between leg i and the platform. At the other extremity of
the leg, because of the use of a passive universal joint, the
joint torques rlland r2,are zero (fig. 5).

'J; = U
: ('Piui)' 1 (9)

1.- ... J
iii) The inverse kinematic model of a leg which, gives the
joint velocities ( qll,q2,,q3,, i = 1 to 6) as a hnction of
the linear velocity of point PI:
ai= O J;: OVP, (10)
J;,' is the inverse Jacobian matrix of leg i.
Note that, the Jacobian matrix of the terminal point of leg
i projected into frame Fjl, see figure 4, is obtained as: Fig. 5: Force4 (i = 1 to 6)

The unknowns of the inverse dynamic problem are

(11) composed of the 18 components of the forces
fi = [f,i fYi f z i p and the six forces of the motorized
Its inverse is given as:
joints r3i
(i=l,. ..,6). Each inverse dynamic model of a leg
o - l / ( ~ , s i n ( ~ ~ ,o) ) is composed of 3 equations giving a total of 18 equations.
31J;: =[l$ (12) The Newton-Euler equation of the platform gives 6

I]
'JJ;; = ORf,3i J;:
Note that: 'J;,' = 3i J;: 31R0,
equations. Thus, we have 24 unknowns and 24 equations.
This system of equations will be solved sequentially as
follows.

4.1 Calculation of 'fi using the dynamics of leg i

iv) The second order inverse kinematic model of a leg i, The general form of the inverse dynamic model of a
which gives the accelerations of the joints ( q l i ,q2i,q 3 i ,i leg i, is written as [ 16,181:
= 1 to 6) as a function of the linear acceleration of point 0 T O
Ti =H,(q,,4,4,)+
J,, fi (15)
Pi:
Where
4, = o J ~ ~ ( o V p i - o J 3 i q ) (13) Hi(qi,qi,qi)=Aiqi +bi(qi,qi) (16)

819
Ai is the (3x3) inertia matrix of leg i and hi is the (3x1) OFp Total external forces and moments on the platform
matrix containing the elements of Coriolis, centrifugal about the origin PI.
ri
and gravity forces. is composed of the torques/forces of
leg i, where Tliand rZiare null: The total forces and moments on the platform due to
the reaction forces
- - of the legs are given as:
rr= [qi rZir3J = [o o rJ
Using equation (1 5) the reaction force vector fi can be
written as:
Ofi = - 'J;:H, ( q i , q i , q i ) + o Jri
~~ (17)
Substituting equation (2 1) into equation (24), we obtain:
Note that: J;:Hi (qi,qi,qi) expresses the vector
Hi (qi ,qi,q, ) into the position Cartesian space at point P,
[19,201.
Thus:
' ~ ~ri,
Ofi = -H, ( ~ , , q ~ , q , ) +'*JJ;; (18) The previous equation can be rewritten as:
Using equation (12) we obtain:

Of, =-Hd(qi,jli,qi)+OR3i -1/(L,sin(e2,))

[ as: o
0

0
0
llL'
0
O1I[ r,,
O
0
I Using equation (9), we can deduce that:

$[[
[1.1
This equation can be simplified (19)
0;~]"3i~3i] = O 'iTrmbot

0 fi =-Hxi (q i ili * a i )+OR3 (20)

With
The third column of the orientation matrix OR31
represents the unit vector along the leg (z31-axis), thus
equation (20) becomes: Substituting equation (26) into equation (25), we
0 obtain:
fi =-~xi(qi,jli,iii)+O~ji
r3i (21) O T
rrobot = Jp Hrobot (27)
4.2 Dynamics of the platform With:
The Newton-Euler equation around the origin of the
platform is written as [ 16,231:

OFp = '7, '0,+ Since O q , and known, the vector OF, can be
computed using equation (22). Equation (27) represents a
With: closed form solution of the inverse dynamic model. To
g acceleration of gravity, referred to frame Fo compute it, beside the Jacobian matrices calculations, we
13 (3x3) identity matrix need to determine Hi (q,,qi ,qi ) which represents the
M, Mass of the platform
(3x3) inertia tensor of the platform with respect to inverse dynamic model of leg i. Different methods can be
'I, used to calculate this vector [21, 221. These vectors are
frame F,, it will be denoted by:
easy to obtain numerically or symbolically and can be
even computed in parallel for the six legs. To reduce the
, '1, = O R , ~ I , ~ R T computational cost, the recursive Newton-Euler method
using customized symbolic method and the base inertial
MS, vector of first moments of the platform around the parameters could be used [16,231. From equation (28) we
origin of frame Fp: deduce that the effect of leg i dynamics on the platform is
'MS, = [MX, MY, M Z , f , OMS, = OR, 'MS, equivalent to apply a force equal to H, (qi,qi,qi) at
(6x6) spatial inertia matrix of the platform: each point Pi. We remind that Hd is the inverse dynamic
Oy, - - vector of leg i referred to the position Cartesian space.
MJ, -OMS, The corresponding total force is equal to E H d and its
OMS, '1,
total moment about the origin Pi is given by PiH, .

820
5 Direct dynamic model
The direct dynamic model of the robot gives the
platform acceleration as a function of the state variables
of the robot (platform position and velocity) and the input
torques/forces 0 = f ( T, , U, r ) .
The unknowns of this problem are the 18 components
of the reaction forces fi = [fxi fyi
the 6 components of the spatial acceleration vector of the
platform o = [ 'VP "cia]'.
As in the case of the inverse dynamic model we can
construct 18 equations fiom the inverse dynamic of the
legs and 6 equations from the Newton-Euler equation of
the platform. This system of equations will be solved
sequentially as follows:
5.1 Calculation of Ofi using the dynamics of leg i
The reaction forces of the legs (17) should be
expressed in terms of the platform Cartesian
accelerations.Using equations (16) and (21), we obtain:
;:
fi =- J Aiqi - J ;:hi (Si,qi )+ 0~3ir3i (29)
Substituting equation (14) into (29), we obtain:
'fi = - A, [I -'Pi] 0- A,, ( '0, x ( '0, x 'Pi )-'JBiqi )
-h, (%,4i )+ 'U31 r3, (30)
Where:
A, ='J;:A,'J;: is the (3x3) Cartesian inertia matrix of
leg i referred at point Pi, and h, =' J;:h, is the Coriolis,
centrifuge and gravity forces of leg i referred to the
Cartesian position space at point Pi [19,20],
Finally, the joint accelerations qli, q2i,q3i (i = 1 to 6)
of the six legs could be obtained, by using the second
order inverse kinematic model of the legs (14).
Equation (3 1) represents the closed form solution of
the direct dynamic model. The (6x6) matrix Arobotis the
equivalent spatial inertia matrix of the platform and legs.
The (6x1) matrix hrobt is the total Coriolis, centrihgal
fzip(i=l,.,.,6) and and gravity effects. The computation of the direct
dynamic model is based, beside the calculation of the
Jacobian matrices, on the computation of Ai and hi of
each leg:
- hi can be computed using the Newton-Euler inverse
dynamic model of leg i by setting q = O ,
hi = H i ( q i , q i , q i = 0 ) [25,26].
- Ai can be computed by Newton-Euler [16, 25,261 or by
Lagrange method [ 16,221.
To reduce the computational cost, customized symbolic
methods and base inertial parameters can be used to
obtain Ai and hi [23,26].
We note that relation (31) can be used also for the
computation of the inverse dynamic model (determination
of r, while 6 is given), but relation (27) is more efficient
fiom the computationalcost point of view.
5.3 Physical interpretation
i) The contribution of leg i on the spatial inertia matrix of
the robot Arobotis represented by the (3x3) mass matrix
Ad located at Pi. Each mass matrix A,, leads to the (6x6)
spatial matrix:
1 (34)

We note that relation (34) has the same form as the spatial
inertia matrix of the platform (24). In fact, the left upper
The platform Cartesian coordinate accelerations can be
(3x3) matrix is homogenous to a mass matrix. The left
determined by substituting equation (30) into the platform
Newton-Euler equation (22) and by making use of down (3x3) matrix is homogenous to a first moment
equation (26), we obtain: matrix. The upper right (3x3) matrix is the transpose of
the left down (3x3) matrix. And the right down (3x3)
0 matrix is homogenous a second order moment matrix.
J;Trmbot = 'robot' -k hrobot ii) The mass matrix A,i induces a centrifugal force, which
so:
( ' 0 , x ( 'q,.'Pi)-
With:
'
= A:bot ( 'JpTrmbof - k o b o t )
is equal to A, oJ3iqi)and a moment

that is given by: 'PIA, ('q, x( '0, .'Pi)- oJ3iqi).

These terms are similar to the second term' of the right
hand side of the Newton-Euler equation of the platform
(22). We note the contribution of the vectoroJjiqi of the
legs on these terms.
iii) The Coriolis, centrihgal and gravity forces of each leg
'o,x( O w , x OMS,) are transformed into the (3x1) Cartesian force vector hxi
at point Pi. The corresponding forces and moments of all
OOp x( OI* ") OMS, (33)
the legs are given by C h . and 'Piha respectively.

821
6 Conclusion
In this paper, we highlight an interesting physical
interpretation of the final form of the inverse and direct
dynamic models of the Gough-Stewart platform. These
models take into account all the dynamics of the
manipulator without simplification. The approach is
straightforward and could be applied to most other filly
parallel manipulators. These models are computed in
terms of the Cartesian leg dynamic forces and inertia as
perceived at the points connecting the mobile platform
with the legs. Consequently, the computational
complexity of these models can make use of the
techniques, which were developed many years ago for the
serial robots. The computation of each leg model could
be easily distributed on different processors in parallel to
reduce the computation time. Moreover, we can make use
of the array computation instead of a sequential
computation when only one processor is used.
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