Analytical Inverse Kinematics for a 5-DoF Robotic Arm with a Prismatic Joint

Abstract: We present an analytical solution for the inverse kinematics (IK) of a robotic arm with one prismatic joint and four revolute joints. This 5-DoF design is a result of minimizing weight while preserving functionality of the device in a wearable usage context. Generally, the IK problem for a 5-DoF robot does not guarantee solutions due to the system being over-constrained. We obtain an analytical solution by applying geometric projections and limiting the ranges of motion for each DoF. We validate this solution by reconstructing randomly sampled end-effector poses, and find position errors below 2 cm and orientation errors below 4 degrees.