Non-Glossary

Following is a list of related keywords. It would be a glossary except there are no definitions. :)

general robotics terms

locomotion

manipulation

vision

navigation and localization

human-robot interaction

control theory

machine learning

planning

artificial intelligence

control theory

system

state

velocity

trajectory

open-loop

closed-loop

feedback

sensor

model

stability

passive stability

mechanism

degree of freedom

kinematics

underactuation

pneumatic actuator

DC motor

servomotor

hobby servo

stepper motor

encoder

compliant

series-elastic

holonomic and non-holonomic

biology and robotics

biomimetic

biorobotics

proprioception

grasp

non-prehensile

closure

primitive

behavior

kinematics

An rigid body unconstrained in space can be described as a ‘free joint’ which imposes no constraints. It has six degrees of freedom: three translational freedoms, and three spatial rotational freedoms. There are several common numerical representations of the rotational freedoms:

Euler angles

Quaternion

Rotation matrix

A pair of rigid bodies may be constrained by physical contact (e.g. a joint bearing) to form a Kinematic pair.

In particular, a ‘lower pair’ is an idealized joint between two rigid bodies. Following are all the lower pairs:

DOF	joint
1	wheel, hinge, pivot, “revolute pair”
1	slider, “prismatic joint”
1	screw
2	cylindrical
3	planar
3	ball and socket, “spherical”