Numerical calculation of the base inertial parameters of robots

An approach to the problem of determining the minimum set of inertial parameters of robots is presented. The calculation is based on numerical QR and singular value decomposition factorizations and on scaling of matrices. It proceeds in two steps: the number of base parameters is determined, and a set of base parameters is determined by eliminating some standard parameters which are regrouped with some others in linear relations. Different models, linear in the inertial parameters, are used: a complete dynamic model, a simplified dynamic model, and an energy model. The method is general. It can be applied to open-loop or graph-structured robots. The algorithms are easy to implement. An application for the PUMA 560 robot is given