Robotscanbeclassifiedaccordingtovariouscriteriasuchastheirdegreesoffreedom,kinematicalstructure,drivetechnology,work

shopgeometryandmotioncharacteristics.
[A]ClassificationbyDegreesofFreedom:Amanipulatorshouldhave6degreesoffreedomtomanipulateanobjectfreelyinthree
dimensionalspaces.Fromthispointofviewarobotmaybea
1.Generalpurposerobot:ifitpossesses6degreesoffreedom.
2.Redundantrobot:ifitpossessesmorethan6degreesoffreedom.Itprovidesmorefreedomtomovearoundobstaclesand
operateinatightlyconfinedworkspace.
3.Deficientrobot:ifitpossesseslessthan6degreesoffreedom.

[B]ClassificationbyKinematicStructure:accordingtokinematicstructurerobotscanbeclassifiedas
1.SerialRobotorOpenloopManipulator:Arobotissaidtobeaserialrobotoranopenloopmanipulatorifitskinematic
structuretakestheformofanopenloopchain.Example:AdeptOneRobot.
2.ParallelManipulator:ifitismadeupofaclosedloopchain.Ingeneral,aparallelmanipulatorhastheadvantagesof
higherstiffness,higherpayloadcapacity,andlowerinertiatothemanipulationproblemthanacomparableserial
manipulator,atthepriceofasmallerworkspaceandmorecomplexmechanism
3.HybridManipulator:ifitconsistsofbothopenandclosedloopchains.Example:FanucS900W.Manyindustrialrobots
employthistypeofrobotconstruction.

[C] Classification by Drive Technology: Manipulators can also be classified by their drive technology. The three popular drive
technologiesare
1.Electric:MostmanipulatorsuseeitherelectricDCservomotororsteppermotorsbecausetheyarecleanandrelativelyeasy
tocontrol.
2.Hydraulic:usedforhighspeedand/orhighloadcarryingcapabilities.Amajordisadvantageassociatedwiththisisthe
possibilityofleakingoils.Ahydraulicdriveisinherentlyflexible,duetobulkmodulusofoil.
3.Pneumatic:Alsousedforhighspeedand/orhighloadcarryingcapabilities.Apneumaticdriveiscleanandfastbutitis
difficulttocontrolbecauseairisacompressiblefluid.

[D]ClassificationbyWorkspaceGeometry:theworkspaceofamanipulatorcanbedefinedasthevolumeofspacetheendofeffecter
can reach. The workspace can be of two types: A reachable workspace is the volume of space within which every point can be
reachedbytheendeffecterinatleastoneorientation.Adextrousworkspaceisthevolumeofspacewithinwhicheverypointcanbe
reachedbytheendeffecterinallpossibleorientation.
1.Cartesianrobot:Inthisthekinematicstructureofarobotarmismadeofthreemutuallyperpendicularprismaticjoints.
ThewristcenterpositionofofaCartesianrobotcanbeconvenientlydescribedbythreeCartesiancoordinatesassociated
withthethreeprismaticjoints.TheregionalworkspaceofaCartesianrobotisarectangularbox.
WhenaCartesianrobotismountedonrailsaboveitsworkspace,itiscalleda
gantryrobot.
2.CylindricalRobot:ArobotarmiscalledcylindricalrobotifeitherthefirstorsecondjointofaCartesianrobotisreplaced
byarevolutejoin.Thewristcenterpositionofacylindricalrobotcanbedescribedbyasetofcylindricalcoordinatesystem
associatedwiththethreejointvariables.Theworkspaceofacylindricalrobotisconfinedbytwoconcentriccylindersof
finitelength.

3.SphericalRobot:ArobotarmiscalledasphericalrobotifeitherthefirstorsecondjointofaCartesianrobotisreplacedby
arevolutejoint.Thewristcenterpositionofasphericalrobotcanbedescribedbyasetofsphericalcoordinatesystem
associatedwiththethreejointvariables.Theworkspaceofcylindricalrobotisconfinedbytwoconcentricspheres.

4.ArticulatedRobot:Arobotarmissaidtobeanarticulatedrobotifallthreejointsarerevolute.Theworkspaceofan
articulatedrobotisverycomplex,typicallyacrescentshapedcrosssection.Pumarobotisanarticulatedrobot.

5.TheSCARA(selectivecomplianceassemblyrobotarm)Robot:itisaspecialtypeofrobotconsistingoftworevolute
jointsfollowedbyaprismaticjoint.Allthreejointaxesareparalleltoeachotherandusuallypointalongthedirectionof
 gravity.Thewristhasonedegreeoffreedomandhencetheentirerobothas4degreesoffreedom.Thistypeofrobotis
usefulforassemblingpartsonaplane.

[E]ClassificationbyMotionCharacteristics:robotmanipulatorscanalsobeclassifiedbyaccordingtotheirnatureofmotion.
1.Planar:Amanipulatoriscalledaplanarmanipulatorifitsmechanismisaplanarmechanism.Planarmanipulatorsare
usefulformanipulatinganobjectonaplane.
2.Spherical:Arigidbodyissaidtobeunderasphericalmotionifallparticlesinthebodydescribecurvesthatlieon
concentricspheres.Amechanismissaidtobeasphericalmechanismifallthemovinglinksperformsphericalmotionabout
acommonstationarypoint.Amanipulatoriscalledasphericalmanipulatorifitismadeupofasphericalmechanism.
3.SpatialManipulator:Arigidbodyissaidtoperformaspatialmotionifitsmotioncannotbecharacterizedasplanaror
sphericalmotion.Amanipulatoriscalledaspatialmanipulatorifatleastoneofthemovinglinksinthemechanism
possessesageneralspatialmotion.Planarandsphericalmechanismscanbeconsideredasspecialcasesofspatial
mechanisms.