  thumb|a model of the human skeleton as a kinematic chain allows positioning using inverse kinematics. inverse kinematics refers to the use of the kinematics equations of a robot to determine the joint parameters that provide a desired position of the end-effector. specification of the movement of a robot so that its end-effector achieves a desired task is known as motion planning. inverse kinematics transforms the motion plan into joint actuator trajectories for the robot. the movement of a kinematic chain whether it is a robot or an animated character is modeled by the kinematics equations of the chain. these equations define the configuration of the chain in terms of its joint parameters. forward kinematics uses the joint parameters to compute the configuration of the chain, and inverse kinematics reverses this calculation to determine the joint parameters that achieves a desired configuration.j. m. mccarthy, 1990, introduction to theoretical kinematics, mit press, cambridge, ma.j. j. uicker, g. r. pennock, and j. e. shigley, 2003, theory of machines and mechanisms, oxford university press, new york.j. m. mccarthy and g. s. soh, 2010, geometric design of linkages, springer, new york. for example, inverse kinematics formulas allow calculation of the joint parameters that position a robot arm to pick up a part. similar formulas determine the positions of the skeleton of an animated character that is to move in a particular way. ==kinematic analysis== kinematic analysis is one of the first steps in the design of most industrial robots. kinematic analysis allows the designer to obtain information on the position of each component within the mechanical system. this information is necessary for subsequent dynamic analysis along with control paths. inverse kinematics is an example of the kinematic analysis of a constrained system of rigid bodies, or kinematic chain. the kinematic equations of a robot can be used to define the loop equations of a complex articulated system. these loop e
3D_computer_graphics Computational_physics Inverse_problems Robot_kinematics Virtual_reality