Inverse Kinematics Math For A 2D Robotic Arm

Inverse Kinematics Math For A 2D Robotic Arm

An N-Jointed Arm is a robotic arm that is made up of N number of joints and N number of lengths, with each joint followed by a length.

Inverse Kinematics is the process of finding the needed rotation of each joint in a robotic arm given the lengths of each arm segment and the desired position of the arm’s end effector.

This post describes the math behind finding an inverse kinematics solution for a robotic arm with any number of joints. The context of this post is in a two-dimensional space.

A gif of a robot throwing a ball.

Remembering FRC: The 2014 Season

“The FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is an international high school robotics competition. Each year, teams of high school students, coaches, and mentors work during a six-week period to build robots capable of competing in that year’s game that weigh up to 125 pounds (57 kg). Robots complete tasks such as scoring balls into goals, placing inner tubes onto racks, hanging on bars, and balancing robots on balance beams. The game, along with the required set of tasks, changes annually” (“FIRST Robotics Competition.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 14 May. 2020. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIRST_Robotics_Competition).