Closed kinematic chain - how to control it

Solving IK and FK for closed mechanisms

In following section, two general examples are discussed that should allow the user to understand the approach to solving general type closed mechanisms:

In the case of an FK problem, identify first the joints that you want to control (i.e. the joints that are driving the mechanism, the active joints). Those joints should be excluded from all kinematic calculation (select a joint mode different from inverse kinematics mode (refer to the joint properties)). Those joints will be considered as rigid by the kinematic calculations from now on. Then, identify which kinematic chain needs to be closed. Closing will be handled by loop closure constraints in the form of tip-target pairs as shown in following figure:

[Forward Kinematics solving method for closed mechanisms]

Then, set the desired joint values for the active joints and call the inverse kinematics functionality to handle loop closure constraints. (the default main script handles all IK groups that are not marked asexplicit handling).

Following example shows some additional functionality that can be used to solve complicated kinematic problems:

[Inverse kinematics task]

As can be seen from the figure, there is one IK task desired by the user: bring the tip onto the target (or have the tip follow the target). This can be solved in the regular way, or the user can make usage of the joint dependency functionality. Following figure demonstrates this:

[Inverse kinematics task with joint overlap constraints]

The IK main task is in charge of reaching the target, the loop closure constraint is in charge of closing the mechanism, and the joint overlap constraints are in charge of keeping the base of the mechanism overlapped (as one single chain). The parameters of the joint dependency linear equation have to be carefully chosen in order to reach a perfect overlap (e.g. if two corresponding joints (the ones linked through the overlap constraint) have the same orientation, then the coefficient in the equation needs to be set to -1! (since one joint is built bottom-up and the other one is built top-down)).

Most of the time there are several different ways of solving the IK or FK of a mechanism, and it is always worth considering various alternatives before implementing the most complicated one! 

In closed kinematic chains, not all the joints can be controlled independently. Thus, sime of the joints are driven by actuators whereas others are passive.   

==================my understanding==============================

To form the so-called loop closure constraint in closed kinematic chain, we need to temporarilly break some joint and form loop closure constraints there. In this way, we can calcuate the position and orientation of end-effector from the open chain through the cutting operation, and then set up the loop closure constraints.