Can someone explain how the inertia matrix works and in what situations you can use it?
Hi dgonzalez,
If your tool is long or has a large surface area, then the inertia matrix is essential, because:
It indicates how the mass of your tool is distributed. So on a rather small volume or on a rather large volume.
I always compare it to a 6kg bowling ball vs. a 6kg Plexiglas sheet with a surface of 1m². Both may have a similar center of gravity and the same mass, but they behave completely differently when accelerating and braking.
In practice, the effect is that long grippers oscillate when they are pushed and no inertia matrix is entered.
If you enter the inertia matrix and then push the gripper, it hardly oscillates at all - because the robot knows the dimensions of the gripper thanks to the matrix.
You can calculate those values by yourself but in complex cases it is better to work with a CAD-program. Most CAD-programs can calculate the inertia matrix, e.g. Solidworks.
I hope those screenshots help you to understand it a bit better.
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