Degree of Freedom in Robotics

The application of any robot depends upon the number of independent movements it can perform in a particular application. An important concept that can be used to determine the type of robot for a specific application is the Degree of freedom. 

The Degree of freedom in robotics is the number of C space, which is the number of real numbers required to define the configuration of any robot in space. In three-dimensional space, we can have 6 degrees of freedom around a particular joint, which is linear motion along the X, Y, and Z-axis and rotation around X (roll), Y (pitch), and Z (yaw). Hence, a single joint in 3D space can produce six independent motions with a maximum of six degrees of freedom. The overall Degree of freedom of a robot is the sum of individual degrees of freedom of all the joints. 

Following are the different types of joints in robots and their degree of freedom (from mecharithm):

[1] Revolute Joint: It is like a door hinge that provides One degree of freedom for the robot link.

[2] Linear (sliding) Joint: It is also called the prismatic joint that provides one degree of freedom between the links.

[3] Universal Joint: It provides two degrees of freedom: rotation around the X (roll) and Y (pitch) axes.

[4] Spherical Joint: It provides three degrees of freedom, two degrees of freedom of universal joint, plus one spinning about the joint axis.

[5] Cylindrical Joint: It provides two degrees of freedom, translational and rotational, around a fixed axis.

[6] Helical Joint: It provides one degree of freedom between the rigid bodies they connect with.