On the False Positives and False Negatives of the Jacobian Matrix in Kinematically Redundant Parallel Mechanisms

Abstract

The Jacobian matrix is a highly popular tool for the control and performance analysis of closed-loop robots. Its usefulness in parallel mechanisms is certainly apparent, and its application to solve motion planning problems, or other higher level questions, has been seldom queried, or limited to nonredundant systems. In this article, we discuss the shortcomings of the use of the Jacobian matrix under redundancy, in particular when applied to kinematically redundant parallel architectures with non-serially connected actuators. These architectures have become fairly popular recently as they allow the end-effector to achieve full rotations, which is an impossible task with traditional topologies.The problems with the Jacobian matrix in these novel systems arise from the need to eliminate redundant variables forming it, resulting in both situations where the Jacobian incorrectly identifies singularities (false positive), and where it fails to identify singularities (false negative). These issues have, thus far, remained unaddressed in the literature. We highlight these limitations herein by demonstrating several cases using numerical examples of both planar and spatial architectures.