Class room (July-November, 2025): ED306
Slot: H
Google Classroom: https://tinyurl.com/ED6007-2025
The lectures would be in person. However, submissions would be handled via Google Classroom. All communications regarding this course would be via Google Classroom. All the students must accept the invitation sent to them to join the classroom.
General information regarding the course may be found below. The contact details in it will be updated after confirming the TAs.
A number of documents have been shared below to help the students from different backgrounds to find some information quickly, at one place. These are not meant to be "shortcuts" to circumvent the more desirable process of detailed exploration of comprehensive and authentic sources, also known as books! To help in that process, each document lists a number of appropriate references, mostly textbooks, for further studies.
Documents 1,6,7,8 constitute essential background knowledge. Students can go over these at any point they want, preferrably before the classes start. These would not be taught in the (regular) classes as the students are expected to have learnt these already. If a sizeable number of students need more details on these, extra classes can be conducted upon request.
| 1 | Basic definitions of links, joints, and mechanisms | This document presents a very brief summary of the pertinent definitions in the domain of linkages, mechanisms, and their mechanical constituents, namely, links and joints. |
| 2 |
Introduction to degrees-of-freedom | The concept of degrees-of-freedom is very basic and important
in the study of any mechanism or robot. Yet, it can be confusing
at times. This document provides a unique way to understand the
theoretical underpinning from the ground up. |
| 3 |
Introduction to inverse kinematics of serial manipulators | This document overlaps with what would be taught in the class.
It tries to explain how the inverse kinematic problem can be
solved from different perspectives, using very simple examples
of a planar 2-R and a spatial 3-R robot. |
| 4 |
Geometry and algebra of cross products | The concept of cross-products is all too well-known to us. It
is very helpful in understanding aspects of rotational motion in
space, as explained in this document. |
| Introduction to rotations in space | Spatial rotations are not the easiest to understand either
physically or mathematically. This document essentially augments
the classroom discussions on this topic. |
|
| 5 |
Velocity distribution and velocity ellipse | The concept of a velocity ellipse is explained, as a means of
associating an index of quality to a configuration of any robot.
|
| 6 | Derivation of the Euler equation | This is to aid the students with some background material in dynamics. Usually, students are expected to know this by heart, but experience shows that it is often not the case. This document should help bridge the gap to some extent, but iff these derivations are repeated by hand independently. |
| 7 | Kinetic energy of a rigid body in spatial motion | Once again, this is supposed to be a part of background knowledge. This is very important for the course as dynamics would be discussed in the context of the Lagrangian framework only. |
| 8 | Derivation of Lagrangian equation for unconstrained rigid multi-body systems | The Lagrangian equation of motion may be derived in different ways. Here, the concept of virtual work is used, rather than the more mathematically-oriented method of calculus of variations. |
| 9 | Lagrangian dynamics of serial manipulators | This document overlaps with the discussions in the class, where the planar 2-R serial robot is studied in detail to understand the general concepts of Lagrangian dynamics applied to serial robots. |
The course depends heavily on symbolic computation and dynamic visualisation. There would be a number of computational assignments involving these aspects. The use of a computer algebra system is essential, and the software Mathematica is recommended for this purpose, since IIT Madras has a site license for this software, and therefore, all the students can access it freely, following the instructions given below.
For those who are not familiar with the software: they can start playing with it before the semester starts, as they would need to use it in the first assignment itself. Some sample codes and tutorials are shared below to help in the process. More tutorials may be arranged upon request from students who need them.