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.
In robotics, an end effector is the device at the end of a robotic arm, designed to interact with the environment. The exact nature of this device depends on the application of the robot.
kmcrane
Right. By the way, inverse kinematics doesn't always have to be about putting an end effector at a particular position---one could also describe more general (and interesting!) goals, like "the center of mass of the robot/figure/creature should be at a certain location," etc. And, since you've already been through the exercise of starting with an IK goal defined in terms of an energy (in Assignment 4) and going all the way through to a numerical algorithm, you should now be able to design other interesting/fun/useful IK tools. :-)
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.
In robotics, an end effector is the device at the end of a robotic arm, designed to interact with the environment. The exact nature of this device depends on the application of the robot.
Right. By the way, inverse kinematics doesn't always have to be about putting an end effector at a particular position---one could also describe more general (and interesting!) goals, like "the center of mass of the robot/figure/creature should be at a certain location," etc. And, since you've already been through the exercise of starting with an IK goal defined in terms of an energy (in Assignment 4) and going all the way through to a numerical algorithm, you should now be able to design other interesting/fun/useful IK tools. :-)