Complexity of the forward kinematic map

Abstract: The main objective of this paper is to introduce a new method for qualitative analysis of various designs of robot arms. To this end we define the complexity of a map, examine its main properties and develop some methods of computation. In particular, when applied to a forward kinematic map associated to some robot arm structure, the complexity measures the inherent discontinuities that arise when one attempts to solve the motion planning problem for any set of input data. In the second part of the paper, we consider instabilities of motion planning in the proximity of singular points, and present explicit computations for several common robot arm configurations.