What are the degrees of freedom of a robot? Generally speaking, the number of joints in a robot mechanism that can move independently is called the robot mechanism's degrees of freedom, or simply degrees of freedom. Degrees of freedom are usually used as a technical indicator of a robot, reflecting the flexibility of its movements, and can be represented by the number of linear, oscillating, or rotating movements along an axis.
How many degrees of freedom does an industrial robot have?
Industrial robots typically have 4 or 6 degrees of freedom. Articulated robots are mainly designed to mimic the human arm. Therefore, the degrees of freedom of an articulated robot refers to the number of axes driven by motors. The higher the degrees of freedom, the greater the flexibility. There are also robots with 1, 2, 3, 5, etc. The different degrees of freedom are designed according to the work content and working range to meet the requirements.
Although the flexibility of a robot increases with the number of axes, or degrees of freedom, in current industrial applications, the most commonly used are three-axis, four-axis, five-axis dual-arm, and six-axis industrial robots. The choice of the number of axes usually depends on the specific application.
Currently, industrial robots are controlled by treating each joint of the robotic arm as an individual servo mechanism, meaning each axis corresponds to a servo motor. Each servo motor is controlled via a bus, and the entire system is controlled and coordinated by a controller. In industrial automation applications, the robot's base can be fixed or movable. Therefore, the number of axes is a crucial technical specification for industrial robots.
