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 Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics 147

Peter Corke
Witold Jachimczyk
Remo Pillat

Robotics,
Vision
and
Control Third Edition
FUNDAMENTAL
ALGORITHMS
IN MATLAB®
Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics
Volume 147

Series Editors
Bruno Siciliano, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Elettrica e Tecnologie
dell’Informazione, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II,
Napoli, Italy
Oussama Khatib, Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Department of
Computer Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

Advisory Editors
Nancy Amato, Computer Science & Engineering, Texas A&M
University, College Station, TX, USA
Oliver Brock, Fakultät IV, TU Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Herman Bruyninckx, KU Leuven, Heverlee, Belgium
Wolfram Burgard, Institute of Computer Science, University of
Freiburg, Freiburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Raja Chatila, ISIR, Paris cedex 05, France
Francois Chaumette, IRISA/INRIA, Rennes, Ardennes, France
Wan Kyun Chung, Robotics Laboratory, Mechanical Engineering,
POSTECH, Pohang, Korea (Republic of)
Peter Corke, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD,
Australia
Paolo Dario, LEM, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy
Alessandro De Luca, DIAGAR, Sapienza Università di Roma, Roma,
Italy
Rüdiger Dillmann, Humanoids and Intelligence Systems Lab, KIT -
Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, Karlsruhe, Germany
Ken Goldberg, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
John Hollerbach, School of Computing, University of Utah, Salt
Lake, UT, USA
Lydia E. Kavraki, Department of Computer Science, Rice University,
Houston, TX, USA
Vijay Kumar, School of Engineering and Applied Mechanics,
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Bradley J. Nelson, Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems,
ETH Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland
Frank Chongwoo Park, Mechanical Engineering Department,
Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea (Republic of)
S. E. Salcudean, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC,
Canada
Roland Siegwart, LEE J205, ETH Zürich, Institute of Robotics &
Autonomous Systems Lab, Zürich, Switzerland
Gaurav S. Sukhatme, Department of Computer Science, University
of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
The Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics (STAR) publish new developments and advances in the
fields of robotics research, rapidly and informally but with a high quality. The intent is to cover all the
technical contents, applications, and multidisciplinary aspects of robotics, embedded in the fields of
Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, Control, and Life
Sciences, as well as the methodologies behind them. Within the scope of the series are monographs,
lecture notes, selected contributions from specialized conferences and workshops, as well as selected
PhD theses.
Special offer: For all clients with a print standing order we offer free access to the electronic volumes
of the Series published in the current year.
Indexed by SCOPUS, DBLP, EI Compendex, zbMATH, SCImago.
All books published in the series are submitted for consideration in Web of Science.
Peter Corke  Witold Jachimczyk  Remo Pillat

Robotics, Vision
and Control
Fundamental Algorithms in MATLAB®

3rd edition 2023

Peter Corke Remo Pillat
Queensland University of Technology MathWorks
Brisbane, QLD, Australia Natick, MA, USA

Witold Jachimczyk
MathWorks
Natick, MA, USA

ISSN 1610-7438 ISSN 1610-742X (electronic)

Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics
ISBN 978-3-031-07261-1 ISBN 978-3-031-07262-8 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07262-8

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzer-
land AG 2011, 2017, 2023
Previously published in two volumes
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part
of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or
information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar
methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publica-
tion does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the
relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book
are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or
the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any
errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional
claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
 v

To my family Phillipa, Lucy and Madeline for their indulgence

and support;
my parents Margaret and David for kindling my curiosity;
and to Richard (Lou) Paul who planted the seed that became
this book. – PC

To my wife Halina, my daughter Julia and my son Alec for their

encouragement and support;
my mom Janina and my uncle Alfred for inspiring me to be
an engineer. – WJ

To my beloved wife, Kristi, for her enduring patience and tolerance

for new projects;
to my children Tobin and Evabelle for giving up some play time;
and to my parents Lothar and Birgit for allowing me to pursue
my dreams. – RP
Foreword

Once upon a time, a very thick document of a dissertation from a faraway land
came to me for evaluation. Visual robot control was the thesis theme and Peter
Corke was its author. Here, I am reminded of an excerpt of my comments, which
reads, this is a masterful document, a quality of thesis one would like all of one’s
students to strive for, knowing very few could attain – very well considered and
executed.
The connection between robotics and vision has been, for over three decades,
the central thread of Peter Corke’s productive investigations and successful devel-
opments and implementations. In this third edition of the book on Robotics, Vision
and Control he is joined by Witold Jachimczyk and Remo Pillat from MathWorks,
the publishers of MATLAB. In its melding of theory and application, this third edi-
tion has considerably benefited from the authors’ unique and diverse experience in
academia, commercial software development, and real-world applications across
robotics, computer vision and self-driving vehicles.
There have been numerous textbooks in robotics and vision, but few have
reached the level of integration, analysis, dissection, and practical illustrations
evidenced in this book. The discussion is thorough, the narrative is remarkably
informative and accessible, and the overall impression is of a significant contri-
bution for researchers and future investigators in our field. Most every element
that could be considered as relevant to the task seems to have been analyzed and
incorporated, and the effective use of toolbox software echoes this thoroughness.
The reader is taken on a realistic walk through the fundamentals of mobile
robots, navigation, localization, manipulator-arm kinematics, dynamics, and joint-
level control, as well as camera modeling, image processing, feature extraction,
and multi-view geometry. These areas are finally brought together through exten-
sive discussion of visual servo system and large-scale real-world examples. In the
process, the authors provide insights into how complex problems can be decom-
posed and solved using powerful numerical tools and effective software.
The Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics (STAR) is devoted to bringing to
the research community the latest advances in the robotics field on the basis of
their significance and quality. Through a wide and timely dissemination of criti-
cal research developments in robotics, our objective with this series is to promote
more exchanges and collaborations among the researchers in the community and
contribute to further advancements in this rapidly growing field.
The authors bring a great addition to our STAR series with an authoritative
book, reaching across fields, thoughtfully conceived and brilliantly accomplished.

Oussama Khatib
Stanford, California
March 2023
 vii

Preface

» Tell me and I will forget.

Show me and I will remember.
Involve me and I will understand.
– Chinese proverb

Simple things should be simple,

complex things should be possible.
– Alan Kay

These are exciting times for robotics. Since the first edition of this book was pub-
lished over ten years ago we have seen great progress: the actuality of self-driving
cars on public roads, multiple robots on Mars (including one that flies), robotic as-
teroid and comet sampling, the rise of robot-enabled businesses like Amazon, and
the DARPA Subterranean Challenge where teams of ground and aerial robots au-
tonomously mapped underground spaces. We have witnessed the drone revolution
– flying machines that were once the domain of the aerospace giants can now be
bought for just tens of dollars. All of this has been powered by the ongoing improve-
ment in computer power and tremendous advances in low-cost inertial sensors and
cameras – driven largely by consumer demand for better mobile phones and gam-
ing experiences. It’s getting easier for individuals to create robots – 3D printing is
now very affordable, the Robot Operating System (ROS) is capable and widely used,
and powerful hobby technologies such as the Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and Dynamixel
servo motors are available at low cost. This in turn has driven the growth of the global
maker community, and empowered individuals working at home, and enabled small
startups to do what would once have been done by major corporations.
Robots are machines which acquire data, process it, and take action based on it.
The data comes from a variety of sensors that measure, for example, the velocity
of a wheel, the angle of a robot arm’s joint, or the intensities of millions of pixels
that comprise an image of the world. For many robotic applications the amount of
data that needs to be processed, in real-time, is massive. For a vision sensor it can
be on the order of tens to hundreds of megabytes per second. Progress in robots
and machine vision has been, and continues to be, driven by more effective ways
to process sensory data.
One axis of progress has been driven by the relentless increase in affordable
computational power. 7 Moore’s law predicts that the number of transistors on When the first author started in
a chip will double every two years, and this enables ever-increasing amounts of robotics and vision in the mid 1980s,
memory, and parallel processing with multiple cores and graphical processing units the IBM PC had been recently released
(GPUs). Concomitantly, the size of transistors has shrunk and clock speed has in- – it had a 4.77 MHz 16-bit
creased. microprocessor and 16 kbytes
The other axis of progress is algorithmic, exploiting this abundance of compu- (expandable to 256 k) of memory. In
tation and memory to solve robotics problems. Over decades, the research com- the 1990s it took a rack full of custom
munity has developed many solutions for important problems in perception, lo- electronics to process video data in real
calization, planning, and control. However, for any particular problem there is a time.
wide choice of algorithms, and each of them may have several implementations.
These will be written in a variety of languages, with a variety of API styles and
conventions, and with variable code quality, documentation, support, and licence
conditions. This is a significant challenge for robotics today, and “cobbling to-
gether” disparate pieces of software has become an essential skill for roboticists.
The ROS framework 7 has helped by standardizing interfaces and allowing com- See 7 https://ros.org.
mon functions to be composed to solve a particular problem. Nevertheless, the
software side of robotics is still harder and more time-consuming than it should
be. This unfortunate complexity, and the sheer range of choice, presents a very real
barrier to somebody new entering the field.
viii Preface

. Fig. 1 Once upon a time a lot of equipment was needed to do vision-based robot control. The first
author with a large rack full of real-time image processing and robot control equipment and a PUMA
560 robot (1992). Over the intervening 30 years, the number of transistors on a chip has increased by a
factor of 230=2  30;000 according to Moore’s law

» the software tools used in this book aim to reduce complexity for the reader

The software tools that are used in this book aim to reduce complexity for the reader
by providing a coherent and complete set of functionality. We use MATLAB® ,
a popular mathematical and engineering computing environment and associated
licensed toolboxes that provide functionality for robotics and computer vision. This
makes common algorithms tangible and accessible. You can read much of the code,
you can apply it to your own problems, or you can extend it. It gives you a “leg up”
as you begin your journey into robotics.
» allow the user to work with real problems, not just trivial examples

This book uses that software to illustrate each topic, and this has a number of
benefits. Firstly, the software allows the reader to work with real problems, not just
trivial examples. For real robots, those with more than two links, or real images
with millions of pixels the computation required is beyond unaided human ability.
Secondly, these software tools help us gain insight which can otherwise get lost
in the complexity. We can rapidly and easily experiment, play what if games, and
depict the results graphically using the powerful 2D and 3D graphical display tools
of MATLAB.
» a cohesive narrative that covers robotics and computer vision – both separately and
together

The book takes a conversational approach, weaving text, mathematics, and lines of
code into a cohesive narrative that covers robotics and computer vision – separately,
and together as robotic vision. It shows how complex problems can be decomposed
and solved using just a few simple lines of code. More formally this is an inductive
learning approach, going from specific and concrete examples to the more general.
» show how complex problems can be decomposed and solved

The topics covered in this book are guided by real problems faced by practitioners
of robotics, computer vision, and robotic vision. Consider the book as a grand tast-
ing menu and we hope that by the end of this book you will share our enthusiasm
for these topics.
» consider the book as a grand tasting menu
 ix
Preface

We were particularly motivated to present a solid introduction to computer vision

for roboticists. The treatment of vision in robotics textbooks tends to concentrate
on simple binary vision techniques. In this book we will cover a broad range of
topics including color vision, advanced segmentation techniques, image warping,
image retrieval, stereo vision, pose estimation, deep learning, bundle adjustment,
and visual odometry. We also cover nonperspective imaging using fisheye lenses,
catadioptric optics, and the emerging area of light-field cameras. These topics are
growing in importance for robotics but are not commonly covered. Vision is a
powerful sensing modality, and roboticists should have a solid grounding in mod-
ern fundamentals. The last part of the book shows how to apply vision and robotics
concepts to solving real-world automated driving and UAV applications.
This book is unlike other textbooks, and deliberately so. While there are already
a number of excellent textbooks that cover robotics and computer vision separately
and in depth, there are few that cover both in an integrated fashion. Achieving such
integration was a principal goal of this book.
» software is a first-class citizen in this book

Software is a tangible instantiation of the algorithms described – it can be read and

it can be pulled apart, modified and put back together again – software is a first-
class citizen in this book. There are a number of classic books that use software
in an illustrative fashion and have influenced this approach, for example LaTeX: A
document preparation system (Lamport 1994), Numerical Recipes in C (Press et al.
2007), The Little Lisper (Friedman et al. 1987), and Structure and Interpretation of
Classical Mechanics (Sussman et al. 2001). In this book, over 2000 lines of code
across over 1600 examples illustrate how the software can be used and generally
provide instant gratification in just a couple of lines of MATLAB code.
» instant gratification in just a couple of lines of MATLAB code

Thirdly, building the book around MATLAB and the associated toolboxes that we
are able to tackle more realistic and more complex problems than other books.
» this book provides a complementary approach

A key motivation of this book is to make robotics, vision, and control algorithms
accessible to a wide audience. The mathematics that underpins robotics is in-
escapable, but the theoretical complexity has been minimized and the book as-
sumes no more than an undergraduate-engineering level of mathematical knowl-
edge. The software-based examples help to ground the abstract concepts and make
them tangible. This approach is complementary to the many other excellent text-
books that cover these same topics but which take a stronger, and more traditional,
theoretical approach. This book is best read in conjunction with those other texts,
and the end of each chapter has a section on further reading that provides pointers
to relevant textbooks and key papers.
The fields of robotics and computer vision are underpinned by theories devel-
oped by mathematicians, scientists, and engineers over many hundreds of years.
Some of their names have become adjectives like Coriolis, Gaussian, Laplacian, or
Cartesian; nouns like Jacobian, or units like Newton and Coulomb. They are inter-
esting characters from a distant era when science was a hobby and their day jobs
were as doctors, alchemists, gamblers, astrologers, philosophers, or mercenaries.
To know whose shoulders we are standing on, the book includes small vignettes
about the lives of some of these people – a smattering of history as a backstory.
Many people have helped with critical comments over previous editions –
this edition is the better for their input and we thank: Paul Newman, Daniela
Rus, Cédric Pradalier, Tim Barfoot, Dmitry Bratanov, Duncan Campbell, Donald
Dansereau, Tom Drummond, Malcolm Good, Peter Kujala, Obadiah Lam, Jörn
x Preface

Malzahn, Felipe Nascimento Martins, Ajay Pandey, Dan Richards, Sareh Shi-
razi, Surya Singh, Ryan Smith, Ben Talbot, Dorian Tsai, Ben Upcroft, François
Chaumette, Donald Dansereau, Kevin Lynch, Robert Mahony, and Frank Park.
Thanks also to all those who have submitted errata. We are grateful to our col-
leagues who have provided detailed and insightful feedback on the latest chapter
drafts: Christina Kazantzidou (who helped to polish words and mathematical no-
tation), Tobias Fischer, Will Browne, Jesse Haviland, Feras Dayoub, Dorian Tsai,
Alessandro De Luca, Renaud Detry, Steve Eddins, Qu Cao, Labhansh Atriwal,
Birju Patel, Hannes Daepp, Karsh Tharyani, Jianxin Sun, Brian Fanous, Cameron
Stabile, Akshai Manchana, and Zheng Dong.
We have tried hard to eliminate errors but inevitably some will remain. Please
contact us on 7 https://github.com/petercorke/RVC3-MATLAB with issues or sug-
gestions for improvements and extensions.
We thank our respective employers, Queensland University of Technology and
MathWorks® , for their support of this project. Over all editions, this book has en-
joyed strong support from the MathWorks book program, and from the publisher.
At Springer-Nature, Thomas Ditzinger has supported this project since before the
first edition, and Wilma McHugh and Ellen Blasig have assisted with this edition.
Special thanks also to Yvonne Schlatter and the team at le-tex for their wonderful
support with typesetting.

Notes on the Third Edition

The first edition (2011), the second The first two editions of this book 9 were based on MATLAB® in conjunction with
edition as a single volume (2017) and open-source toolboxes that are now thirty years old – that’s a long time for any
then as a two-volume set (2022). piece of software. Much has happened in the last decade that motivates a change to
the software foundations of the book, and that has led to two third editions:
4 The version you are reading, rewritten with colleagues from MathWorks, is
based on MATLAB, and state-of-the-art toolboxes developed by MathWorks
including: Robotics System Toolbox™ , Navigation Toolbox™ , Computer Vi-
sion Toolbox™ , and Image Processing Toolbox™ .
To run the examples in this book you require appropriate software licenses and
details are given in 7 App. A.
4 The alternative version, is based on Python which is a popular open-source
language with strong third-party support. The old MATLAB-based toolboxes
have been ported to Python (Corke 2021).

In addition to changing the software underpinnings of the book, this third edition
also provides an opportunity to fix errors, improve mathematical notation, and clar-
ify the narrative throughout. Chapters 2 and 7 have been extensively rewritten. This
edition also includes new topics such as graph-based path planning, Dubins and
Reeds-Shepp paths, branched robots, URDF models, collision checking, task-space
control, deep learning for object detection and semantic segmentation, fiducial
markers, and point clouds. Chapter 16, previously advanced visual servoing, has
been replaced with large-scale application examples that showcase advanced fea-
tures of many MathWorks toolboxes.

Peter Corke
Witold Jachimczyk
Remo Pillat
Brisbane, Australia and Boston, USA
July 2022
 xi

Contents

1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 A Brief History of Robots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Types of Robots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.3 Definition of a Robot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.4 Robotic Vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.5 Ethical Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.6 About the Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.6.1 MATLAB and the Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.6.2 Notation, Conventions, and Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.6.3 Audience and Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.6.4 Learning with the Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.6.5 Teaching with the Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.6.6 Outline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.6.7 Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

I Foundations
2 Representing Position and Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.1 Foundations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.1.1 Relative Pose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.1.2 Coordinate Frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2.1.3 Pose Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.1.4 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.2 Working in Two Dimensions (2D) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.2.1 Orientation in Two Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.2.2 Pose in Two Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
2.3 Working in Three Dimensions (3D) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
2.3.1 Orientation in Three Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.3.2 Pose in Three Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
2.4 Advanced Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
2.4.1 Pre- and Post-Multiplication of Transforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
2.4.2 Active and Passive Transformations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
2.4.3 Direction Cosine Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
2.4.4 Efficiency of Representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
2.4.5 Distance Between Orientations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
2.4.6 Normalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
2.4.7 Understanding the Exponential Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
2.4.8 More About Twists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
2.4.9 Configuration Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
2.5 MATLAB Classes for Pose and Rotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
2.6 Wrapping Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
2.6.1 Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
2.6.2 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

3 Time and Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

3.1 Time-Varying Pose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
3.1.1 Rate of Change of Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
3.1.2 Rate of Change of Pose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
3.1.3 Transforming Spatial Velocities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
3.1.4 Incremental Rotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
3.1.5 Incremental Rigid-Body Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
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3.2 Accelerating Bodies and Reference Frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

3.2.1 Dynamics of Moving Bodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
3.2.2 Transforming Forces and Torques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
3.2.3 Inertial Reference Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
3.3 Creating Time-Varying Pose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
3.3.1 Smooth One-Dimensional Trajectories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
3.3.2 Multi-Axis Trajectories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
3.3.3 Multi-Segment Trajectories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
3.3.4 Interpolation of Orientation in 3D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
3.3.5 Cartesian Motion in 3D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
3.4 Application: Inertial Navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
3.4.1 Gyroscopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
3.4.2 Accelerometers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
3.4.3 Magnetometers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
3.4.4 Inertial Sensor Fusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
3.5 Wrapping Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
3.5.1 Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
3.5.2 Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
3.5.3 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

II Mobile Robotics
4 Mobile Robot Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
4.1 Wheeled Mobile Robots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
4.1.1 Car-Like Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
4.1.2 Differentially-Steered Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
4.1.3 Omnidirectional Vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
4.2 Aerial Robots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
4.3 Advanced Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
4.3.1 Nonholonomic and Underactuated Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
4.4 Wrapping Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
4.4.1 Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
4.4.2 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

5 Navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
5.1 Introduction to Reactive Navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
5.1.1 Braitenberg Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
5.1.2 Simple Automata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
5.2 Introduction to Map-Based Navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
5.3 Planning with a Graph-Based Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
5.3.1 Breadth-First Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
5.3.2 Uniform-Cost Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
5.3.3 A Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
5.3.4 Minimum-Time Path Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
5.3.5 Wrapping Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
5.4 Planning with an Occupancy Grid Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
5.4.1 Distance Transform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
5.4.2 D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
5.5 Planning with Roadmaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
5.5.1 Introduction to Roadmap Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
5.5.2 Probabilistic Roadmap Method (PRM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
5.6 Planning Drivable Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
5.6.1 Dubins Path Planner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
5.6.2 Reeds-Shepp Path Planner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
5.6.3 Lattice Planner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
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5.6.4 Clothoids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

5.6.5 Planning in Configuration Space (RRT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
5.7 Advanced Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
5.7.1 A vs Dijkstra Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
5.7.2 Converting Grid Maps to Graphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
5.7.3 Converting Between Graphs and Matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
5.7.4 Local and Global Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
5.8 Wrapping Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
5.8.1 Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
5.8.2 Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
5.8.3 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

6 Localization and Mapping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

6.1 Dead Reckoning Using Odometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
6.1.1 Modeling the Robot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
6.1.2 Estimating Pose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
6.2 Landmark Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
6.2.1 Localizing in a Landmark Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
6.2.2 Creating a Landmark Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
6.2.3 EKF SLAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
6.2.4 Sequential Monte-Carlo Localization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
6.2.5 Rao-Blackwellized SLAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
6.3 Occupancy Grid Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
6.3.1 Application: Lidar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
6.3.2 Lidar-Based Odometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
6.3.3 Lidar-Based Map Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
6.3.4 Lidar-Based Localization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
6.3.5 Simulating Lidar Sensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
6.4 Pose-Graph SLAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
6.4.1 Pose-Graph Landmark SLAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
6.4.2 Pose-Graph Lidar SLAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
6.5 Wrapping Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
6.5.1 Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
6.5.2 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

III Robot Manipulators

7 Robot Arm Kinematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
7.1 Forward Kinematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
7.1.1 Forward Kinematics from a Pose Graph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
7.1.2 Forward Kinematics as a Chain of Robot Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
7.1.3 Branched Robots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
7.1.4 Unified Robot Description Format (URDF) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
7.1.5 Denavit-Hartenberg Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
7.2 Inverse Kinematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
7.2.1 2-Dimensional (Planar) Robotic Arms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
7.2.2 3-Dimensional Robotic Arms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
7.2.3 Underactuated Manipulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
7.2.4 Overactuated (Redundant) Manipulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
7.3 Trajectories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
7.3.1 Joint-Space Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
7.3.2 Cartesian Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
7.3.3 Kinematics in Simulink . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
7.3.4 Motion Through a Singularity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
xiv Contents

7.4 Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

7.4.1 Writing on a Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
7.4.2 A 4-Legged Walking Robot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
7.5 Advanced Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
7.5.1 Creating the Kinematic Model for a Robot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
7.5.2 Modified Denavit-Hartenberg Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
7.5.3 Products of Exponentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
7.5.4 Collision Checking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
7.6 Wrapping Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
7.6.1 Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
7.6.2 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327

8 Manipulator Velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329

8.1 Manipulator Jacobian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
8.1.1 Jacobian in the World Coordinate Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
8.1.2 Jacobian in the End Effector Coordinate Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
8.1.3 Analytical Jacobian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
8.2 Application: Resolved-Rate Motion Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
8.3 Jacobian Condition and Manipulability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
8.3.1 Jacobian Singularities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
8.3.2 Velocity Ellipsoid and Manipulability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
8.3.3 Dealing with Jacobian Singularity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
8.3.4 Dealing with a Non-Square Jacobian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
8.4 Force Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
8.4.1 Transforming Wrenches to Joint Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
8.4.2 Force Ellipsoids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
8.5 Numerical Inverse Kinematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
8.6 Advanced Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
8.6.1 Computing the Manipulator Jacobian Using Twists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
8.6.2 Manipulability, Scaling, and Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
8.7 Wrapping Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
8.7.1 Further Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
8.7.2 Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352

9 Dynamics and Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

9.1 Independent Joint Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356
9.1.1 Actuators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356
9.1.2 Friction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
9.1.3 Link Mass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
9.1.4 Gearbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
9.1.5 Modeling the Robot Joint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
9.1.6 Velocity Control Loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362
9.1.7 Position Control Loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367
9.1.8 Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
9.2 Rigid-Body Equations of Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
9.2.1 Gravity Term . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372
9.2.2 Inertia (Mass) Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
9.2.3 Coriolis and Centripetal Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
9.2.4 Effect of Payload . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
9.2.5 Base Wrench . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376
9.2.6 Dynamic Manipulability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
9.3 Forward Dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378
9.4 Rigid-Body Dynamics Compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380
9.4.1 Feedforward Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381
9.4.2 Computed-Torque Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382
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shall ever be in love. Sometimes I think that the agony I went through,
before my attempt to kill myself, has seared my feelings and made me hard
and stupid. If you think of marrying me it is right that you should know this.

"I am not including in this letter a word of thanks for all that you have
been to me. I feel that, were I in your place, thanks would seem an insult if
the love that ought to wing them were lacking.

"But do ask yourself honestly whether you really love me any more than
I love you. What could your feeling be but just a sentiment, a figment of the
imagination? You do not know me, or my tastes, or my temper, or my
habits. How can you desire my daily companionship? Am I doing you a real
wrong or only an imaginary one?

"I write far more coldly than I feel. My heart is aching with sympathy
for you. But if I were you sympathy would madden me, and I do not offer
it.

"I do ask forgiveness for my—what must I call it?—my involuntary

inconstancy."

At the back of her mind rankled the thought of all the money of his
which she had accepted and spent. But she did not dare allude to it in the
letter. She must await his answer to her confession. If she were to accept
Denzil, and marry him, this money must be repaid. She wondered at herself
now, to think how simply she had accepted it.

So she wrote her letter, and went to bed with a mind slightly more at
ease. And meanwhile, downstairs, Denzil and Aunt Bee sat together in the
billiard-room, discussing the extraordinary revelation made by their
protégée that day.

Aunt Bee had guessed that there had been some kind of avowal on her
nephew's part, and that it had been met by some corresponding confession
of an unexpected nature on that of the girl. But she was far from being
prepared for the surprising truth.
 Denzil put into her hands his brother's letter, which Rona had given him
leave to show, and related to the astounded lady the true story of the escape
of the young man and the girl from the power of Rankin Leigh and Levy.

Miss Rawson sat for some time silent, taking it all in. The young canal
bargeman, the handsome, unkempt tramp, whose tragic face had dwelt with
her ever since her short interview with him—he was actually Felix Vanston,
the black sheep—the boy whom she had last seen in riding breeches,
mounted on his pony before the door of Normansgrave, and arrogantly
declining to take off his hat to her at his mother's peevish bidding.

"Why," she burst out, "he must have known me! Why did he not tell me
who he was? But, of course, that was the last thing he would have been
likely to do. He was not long out of prison—out of prison! Oh, think of it!
He was actually starving, in despair, a suicide in all but actual
accomplishment, and yet he was straining every nerve, defying the law,
eluding pursuit, to put this unknown child into safe keeping! He is a hero,
Denzil."

Denzil's face grew sullen. "If she had not been so sweet, so lovable,
would he have been so willing?" he asked, resentfully. "Who that saw her
could resist the desire to help her, to do all in their power for her? What did
I do?" His voice broke—only rage enabled him to go on speaking. "I have
done for her a thousand times as much as he did. If gratitude constitutes a
claim——"

"Oh, Denzil!"

The reproof in her voice brought him up short. "I beg your pardon. I am
a brute, I know. I am jealous of him, bitterly jealous! I believe I always
have been. My father loved him better than he loved me. My father loved
that woman—I daren't trust myself to talk of her—better than ever he loved
my poor good mother. I have always been jealous of Felix. In the light of
what I am suffering now, I know that much, But—but"—his eyes gleamed,
and he set his teeth—he looked a different man—"but he has not got her
love. She likes me best—and I am going to have her, too. She asked me to
save her from him."
 Miss Rawson viewed him steadily. She was desperately sorry for him.

"I am in favor of keeping one's word," went on Denzil in an exculpatory

tone. "I would never urge anybody, man or woman, to back out of a promise
given. But a promise of this kind stands on a different footing. A girl of
Rona's age at that time cannot give a promise that shall be binding when she
is grown up. Look how human beings change! And nobody could urge her
to keep the letter of a promise which in spirit she not only has already
broken, but which she has never, in fact, kept."

"That is true," said Miss Rawson slowly. And after some consideration
she asked him, "What are you going to do?"

"I am going to write to him to come home at once, at my expense, and

we will have this thing decided," said Denzil, in a voice which told that his
mind was made up. "She must not, of course, give me any promise until he
has released her: though from this letter I judge that he understands pretty
well the state of her feeling for him. But let him come—let it be fair and
square between him and me. He must have his chance."

Miss Rawson was still very thoughtful. After another pause she went
on: "There is another aspect of the case, you know, Denzil, which, in your
absorption over this curious complication, you have put on one side. Did
Rona tell you nothing of her birth or parentage?"

He started, as if the idea occurred to him for the first time. "Nothing,"
he said; "as you say, the subject was not touched upon."

"Yet it will be impossible or most unwise for a marriage to take place,

dear Denzil, without further details," said Aunt Bee. She spoke hesitatingly,
loath to wound, but with a gravity which fixed his attention. "If this man is
still alive—this Rankin Leigh—I suppose he would be fairly certain to hear
of his niece's marriage. You cannot marry her under any but her true name.
Veronica Leigh is not a common name; and the wedding of Denzil Vanston
of Normansgrave must be publicly announced. You would not like ugly
facts to crop up about your wife."

Denzil crimsoned. "Why, what facts?" he asked. "What could turn up?"
 She replied cautiously: "If, as you tell me, this man was intending to
hand her over to the kind of life that is implied by such a training, he must
be a person on a very different social level from ourselves. Remember,
Felix rescued her from a lodging-house in Deptford. I am not a snob, my
boy, and I know that lilies-of-the-valley are now and then found on dust-
heaps. I acknowledge with all my heart that Rona is a lily of a girl. But it
will not be pleasant for you to have undesirable people coming about you,
perhaps blackmailing you to have facts about your wife's origin kept dark.
However dearly we love Rona, the fact remains that we do not know who
she is. Remember, Denzil, it is a question of the mother of your children—
of future Vanstons, dear boy."

The young man hid his hot face in his hands. "You," he said, in
smothered tones, "you did not dissuade me—we have acted together in this
—you and I."

"Yes, Denzil. I willingly shoulder the blame. The girl herself was her
own passport; and her brother's letter convinced me of his own gentle birth
and education. But remember, I thought them brother and sister. That made
all the difference. Had I known that they were almost strangers—that he
took her from such a place—had I known, in short, what I know now—I
might have acted differently. I might have given other advice. For it is well
for a man to marry his equal; it makes for happiness."

"One can see," said Denzil, in a hollow voice, "why he dare not let it
out. If we had known he was not really her brother, we should not have
allowed him to take her away. We should have considered him utterly unfit
to be the guide or helper of such a girl. What do you advise, Aunt Bee?
Shall I write to the Convent School and see whether the Reverend Mother
can tell me anything?"

"An excellent idea," said Miss Rawson, "though, judging from what you
say Rona told you, the Reverend Mother does not know much. Still, she
might give us a clew. I do think we ought to inform ourselves as far as we
can."

"There is one thing," remarked the Squire, "if the uncle knows the girl is
to make a really good marriage, and be off his hands, he would not be likely
to object, would he?"

"No," said his aunt; "one would think not. But such a man would make
something out of you if he saw his way to do it. If he knew you to be much
in love, he might impose conditions."

"Such as——?"

"Well, such as that you should ask him down here to stay, or subsidize
him to keep quiet, or something of the kind——"

Denzil shuddered involuntarily.

"—He must be a pretty nefarious villain not to have made public the
fact of the girl's disappearance," continued Aunt Bee. "He must have had
good and strong reasons himself for keeping dark. I wish we could find out
something which would give us a hold over him, so that in case of his being
troublesome we could keep him quiet."

"That is not a bad idea," said Denzil, thoughtfully. "It gives one
something to do—something to take off one's thoughts from the
disappointment—the anxiety." He fell silent, twisting his hands in his
nervous misery. "Aunt Bee," he brought out, at last, "whatever happens—
whatever should come out—I must marry her. I feel towards her as I never
thought to feel towards any woman in the world. I always thought all the
stuff in books about being in love was such nonsense. But now——" He
could not go on.

"God bless you, old man; it will do you all the good in the world," said
his aunt, heartily. "A thing like this shows one how far one's feeling is really
genuine and deep. It is a good thing the path of your happiness is not too
smooth. I do think myself, though I am not in love with her—I do think the
girl is fine, and worth a fight. I have always known she had some secret
anxiety, but have put it down to the fact that she could not be candid with
me about her birth and so on. That she was actually engaged all this time to
your remarkable brother has been a heavy burden to be borne by such
young shoulders. Her courage and prudence are both wonderful."
 "Think," said Denzil, hardly able to speak for a feeling which threatened
to choke him. "Think of her actually throwing herself out of a window
down upon railway lines, sooner than suffer degradation! You are right. She
is wonderful. Good-night, my dear aunt."

They separated, feeling more in sympathy than ever in their lives

before.

CHAPTER XXI

DENZIL DOES HIS DUTY

But did she love him?—what and if she did? ...
Love has no spell can scorching winds forbid,
Or bring the help which tarries near to hand,
Or spread a cloud for curtaining fading eyes
That gaze up dying into alien skies.
—JEAN INGELOW.

A fortnight passed at Normansgrave, in doubt and discomfort. It was

fortunate that the house was full of visitors, for their entertainment served to
take off the thoughts of the master of the house from his own interrupted
and absorbing romance.

Upon the day following his proposal to Veronica in the Abbey ruins he
wrote to Felix, a letter which seemed to him of a dignified and most
fraternal character. He said, in effect—"All is known, but at the same time
all is forgiven. Come home and let us settle things up. I wish to treat you
quite fairly, though I do not think that you have so treated me."
 His next care was to go to London, and, with the utmost secrecy and
precaution, set on foot a private inquiry for the man Rankin Leigh. He
likewise spent some time in Somerset House, searching the register for the
entry of Rona's birth. She knew the exact year, month, and day, but, for
safety's sake, he also investigated the corresponding month in the years
following and preceding. There was no entry of any Veronica Leigh during
the three years studied by him.

He found himself continually lost in speculation as to who the girl was.

He wrote to the Mother Superior of the Convent, and her reply disturbed
him greatly. She asked him, if he could possibly arrange it, to come and
visit her personally. She had very little to tell him, but should be most
grateful to hear good news of the girl, over whose fate she had grieved
many times since she left the Convent.

Glad of any pretext to be upon the move, Denzil did as she asked him.
He pleaded sudden and very important business connected with his ward,
Miss Leigh, and left his visitors for a couple of days to the care of Aunt Bee
and Rona.

But he wished afterwards that he had not gone, since all that the
Reverend Mother could tell him went to confirm the suspicion which had
lain at the bottom of his mind ever since he first saw the girl—namely, that
Rona had no legal father.

A firm of solicitors, said the good lady, had written to her, asking her to
receive a girl child, of the age of six months. It was said that she was
doubly an orphan, and that it was believed that she had been duly baptized,
but, as her mother was suddenly dead, nobody knew by what name. A sum
for her maintenance was guaranteed. When the baby arrived at the Convent,
the good nuns thought it best to be upon the safe side, and re-baptized her,
under the name of Veronica; the record of this provisional baptism was
shown to him in the register of their private chapel. They were told that the
child's parents both belonged to the Roman Catholic faith. The sum
promised them was duly paid, every quarter, through the same firm, until
Rona was sixteen. The lawyers then wrote to the Convent, saying that their
client, who had paid the money, was dead. He had left no instructions in his
will as to the continuance of the payments, and they found no member of
his family willing to sanction such a course. Nobody knew who the child
was, and, so far as was known, she had no claim upon the man who had
hitherto supported her. As she had attained the age of sixteen, the legatees
thought she should now support herself. In these circumstances, the firm
had communicated with Mr. Rankin Leigh, who was, they were informed,
uncle to the child, upon her mother's side; and he had replied to the effect
that he would travel down to the school and see his niece, with a view to
making some provision for her future.

This Mr. Leigh had, after some weeks, presented himself. He was a
seedy-looking individual. He declared, in conversation with the Reverend
Mother, that he was wholly unable to support Veronica, who must earn her
own living, but that, if she were a well-grown, nice-looking girl, he thought
he might put her into a very good situation. Having seen his niece, he was
evidently much struck by her beauty. "She is beautiful, do you not think?"
asked the Mother, eagerly, of Denzil. "We all thought she promised to be
lovely; though at that time, she was in the awkward stage. I have often
wondered whether she has grown up as beautiful as we thought she would."

Denzil was able to produce a good photo of Veronica, taken within the
last few weeks, and was touched at seeing the joy of the kind woman at her
grace, and her happy look.

Denzil then, as well as he could, confided to her the terrible experience

through which Rona had passed. He told of her rescue, and of their taking
her into the Cottage Hospital. "Of course," he said, "we could see at once
that she was no common girl."

The Mother agreed. She expatiated on the subject of Veronica. She had
been an exquisitely pretty baby, and the joy of the nuns' hearts. Her clothes
had been good and carefully made. She had evidently been the child of
someone who cherished her tenderly.

But there was the significant fact that she seemed to be called by her
mother's surname. It all contributed to the idea that Rona was nobody's
child. And, deeply in love though Denzil was, he did not like the notion at
all.
 Rankin Leigh, it appeared, was an elderly man, and he had owned to the
Mother that he was not the child's own uncle, but her great-uncle—her
mother had been his niece. He had pumped hard to find out whether
anything was known of the child's father, but, of course, had ascertained
nothing.

Denzil asked if there was any reason to suppose that Rankin Leigh was
the girl's legal guardian. Nothing was known on this head; but, as he was
apparently the only living relative, and as there was no more money to
support the child, they had felt bound to let her go.

"I really did not know what to do with her," said the good woman. "I
thought her much too handsome to be in business, and much too refined for
service, and, of course, she was too young to teach."

The Squire returned to Normansgrave with much food for thought. He

had obtained from the Mother one thing which he thought of great
importance, and that was the name and address of the firm of solicitors who
had arranged for the child's reception at the Orphanage.

To them he wrote, at the earliest possible moment. His letter came back
to him through the dead-letter office, marked "Gone away." And no search
of Postal Guides revealed any address for a firm of that name. He began to
wonder whether the simple-seeming nun had played him false after all. Yet,
what motive could she have had for doing so?

The visit brought him home, restless and dissatisfied. He determined to

say nothing to Rona of where he had been. On his way home in the train he
had serious doubts as to whether he should not disentangle himself
altogether from this intricate affair of his brother and the Girl from
Nowhere. It was completely out of his line to be thus mixed up in
questionable matters.

But the moment he saw her again—the moment, when, standing on the
terrace, he beheld her drifting across the lawns with an armful of flowers,
walking without a hat, the boisterous wind ruffling her hair back from her
flawless forehead—there awoke in him the long ignored natural desires. His
heart beat, his eyes filled, his being grew big with the craving to take her, to
make her his at any price he might afterwards be called upon to pay.

Rona, when she saw him standing there, stopped short. She blushed as
she met his gaze. She could not now encounter him without confusion. She
felt certain that she did not love Felix. But she was anything but certain that
she did love his brother.

Since his declaration at Newark there had been something in the quality
of his affection which she disliked. His eyes were always seeking hers, he
tried to take her hand when occasion offered. If they were alone he would
seat himself beside her, closer than she liked. She was growing very shy of
him. The virginal instinct to fly from pursuit was strong in her.

He began to wonder how much longer he should be able to bear the

present situation. It was anomalous. They could not expect a letter from
Felix for another ten days or more. And it might not be a letter which came.
It might be Felix himself.

As he hastened down from the terrace, and relieved her of the tall
delphiniums and golden rod and dahlias which she carried, it was in his
heart to catch her and hold her close, and cry to her that she was his, and
that Felix should not come between them. Instead, he merely smiled upon
her, and asked affectionately, but somewhat tritely, if she had missed him.
She replied, with lowered eye-lids and a charming dignity, that she had.

He meant to say something to the effect that he chafed against the

restraints imposed upon him by their waiting, by their scrupulous regard for
the absent man. Instead of that, he burst forth without reflection—

"Come and let us sit on the stone seat and talk! It is about a hundred
years since I left you."

Veronica did not look at all delighted, but she obediently turned with
him, and they went slowly across the lawn to a distant part of the garden,
where there was an Alpine rockery. They sat down together upon a small
bench, let into the rocks which bordered the path. They had sat there often,
during the few golden weeks since her return. But this afternoon Rona felt a
restless insecurity, a desire to rise up and go and leave Denzil to himself.
What could they say to each other? There was nothing to be said. Her heart
was empty of any feeling for him, beyond the grateful affection which by
no means craves stolen interviews.

As for Denzil, for the first time in his life his impulses were galloping
off with his reason. The very aloofness and gentle coolness of the maiden
spurred him on.

"Rona," he said feverishly, "I feel as if all my life I had been waiting to
know that you are free."

She smiled ambiguously. "Don't let us talk of that."

"Of what, then? I don't feel at this moment as if I care a pin for anything
else in the world."

She regarded him with curiosity. "Do you really feel that?"

"Indeed I do. Don't you?"

She was gazing straight before her, and she shook her head. "Not a bit. I
must tell the truth, you know. I feel the world is big, and very—frightfully
—interesting. And there are many things I want to know about, and talk
about."

He sat very silent. "Then—then—you don't—er—return my feeling?

You are not in love with me, as I am with you, Rona?" he wistfully
demanded, at length.

After a pause, "I don't know," she replied.

He felt dashed and piqued, both at the same moment.

"I wonder if you have any idea of how cruel it is of you to say that?" he
asked, half pleading, half annoyed.

"Oh, I don't want to be cruel," she hastily answered. "I want to be very
kind to you, Mr. Vanston."
 "Say Denzil—give me my name, Rona."

"Oh!" said Rona, quite as if the suggestion shocked her. He leaned

forward, staring at her, taking in the beauties of her with thirsty eyes—the
quality of her skin, the modeling of the corners of her lips, the bend of her
lashes, the heaving of her throat under her embroidered muslin bodice.

"Why not?" he asked, in a low, hoarse voice. The voice warned Rona,
for it was unnatural. She stood up. "It is chilly in the wind," she said,
standing there, her face and, hair gilded by a long sun ray which struck
upon her through the trees.

He sprang to his feet, and his eyes glittered. "Oh!" he said, "Oh, how
beautiful you are!" He caught both her hands in his hot grasp. "You must
tell me," he panted, "do you hear? You must tell me what you feel? Did you
mean what you said, that you don't care for me? Oh, you couldn't mean that
—Rona!"

He was close to her—so close that he could feel the contact of her slim
form. Some instinct warned her that to move suddenly would provoke
further demonstration. She grew white, and took his hand in her own.
"Have I not asked you," she said, in a very still voice, "not to talk of this—
yet?"

It was the woman's device to gain time. But it did not seem to have
succeeded. "Not yet?" he cried, on a high note. "Is that what you mean,
really? That we ought not to speak freely yet? I can wait—or I thought I
could, half an hour ago! But give me a word, just a word, Rona."

He followed her up, his arm ready to go round her waist. She but just
eluded him. "The word is—wait," she said: and in her fear she began to lose
the control which had subdued him. "You must wait, if I say wait," she cried
imperiously. And her next words sounded curiously irrelevant. "After all, I
am only nineteen," she urged, indignantly.

He felt like a man pushing against a closed door—felt a deep desire to

batter it down with force. Yet he could not risk her displeasure.
 "Oh, Rona," he said, "it is too bad of you to torture me."

She retorted quickly, "It is you who are torturing me"—and broke off
upon the word, for there was the sound of a voice raised, calling Mr.
Vanston.

Impatiently Denzil went to the flight of steps which led down into the
little garden where they sat. "Who is there? What do you want?" he cried
testily.

"Oh, there you are, sir," cried Chant, the butler. "I knew you had come
in, but couldn't find you. A cablegram, sir. Is there any answer?"

Rona's heart seemed to stop. She stood where she was, still as a statue,
while Denzil opened the envelope. He seemed to grope, to fumble, to take
incredibly long over the simple process.

A cablegram! Doubtless to announce that Felix was on his way. That

flimsy bit of paper showed how terribly near, how accessible he was and
always had been, though he had seemed so far away as not to count in one's
scheme of life. And now he was coming! When? How much respite yet
before she must look upon his strong, reproachful face?

Denzil glanced up, white as ashes, from the paper he held. "There is no
answer," he said to Chant; and the man went away.

The Squire came up to Rona and held the paper to her. She took it and
gazed for a moment with blurred eyes. Then her vision cleared and she saw:
—

"Felix missing. Fear foul play. Vronsky."

She stared upon the message, her heart contracting till the pain was
physical. Was this to be the way out for her? Was the man who had rescued
her, and trusted her, and loved her to die at last a violent death at the hand
of inhuman wretches who called themselves brothers to humanity? The
oppression of her spirits threatened to choke her. She cried out, in a tone she
hardly knew to be her own.
 "Denzil! Denzil? Tell me it isn't true!"

He ran to her, his arms held out, his sympathy ready to be poured forth
upon her.

"Oh, don't! oh, don't!" she pleaded, not choosing her words. "Don't
behave so, when we have this to consider! What are we doing here in
England safe and happy, when perhaps they are torturing him to death!"

Denzil drew out a handkerchief, passed it across his face, and collected
himself. "I beg your pardon. This—this is terrible. But he has brought it
upon himself—as a man soweth——"

"Oh!" cried Rona, unable to repress a strong shudder of disgust.

He stood silent a moment, surprised and confused. The news, following

upon his moments of unrestraint, had unstrung him somewhat.

"What," he asked vacantly, "what ought we to do?"

"Do?" cried the girl. "There is only one thing to be done! You must go
there, and move heaven and earth! You must appeal to the Government, you
must spare no money, no effort, to find him; if he is dead, to avenge him,
and if he is alive to deliver him from the hand of these brutes."

Denzil stood sullenly brooding. For the second time Felix had
disappeared, and left him in doubt as to whether he was alive or dead. In a
flash it came to him! Rona was right!—This time there should be no doubt.
If he was, now free of his disreputable younger brother, the fact should be
known, ascertained beyond dispute!

And for many reasons he had better go. This afternoon's experience had
shown him to himself in a new light. He feared that he could not trust
himself much with Rona until the knotty situation was unraveled. And if he
left her she would become aware of the state of her own affections. He was
a firm believer in the adage that absence makes the heart grow fonder.
 Never in his life had Denzil Vanston made up his mind so quickly.
Never perhaps had he been called upon to decide so important a matter. He
saw the whole thing with a clearness born of his own vital interest in the
case. His going out would obviate the necessity for Felix to come home at
all. And it was obviously far better that Felix and Rona should not meet.

Short as was his musing, it was too long for Rona's impatience.

"You must go, you must go," she reiterated, "or we shall have it on our
consciences till we die! You must send cables to the Russian police, you
must let them see that he has powerful friends, that he cannot be spirited
away with impunity! Oh," she burst out, in anguish, "never in all his life has
anybody helped him! And now I, the one creature that he thought was his
own, the one object for which he lived—I have failed him! But if you will
go, Mr. Vanston, you may be in time! By God's help you may not be too
late to let him know that he is not all alone in the world."

Her lover raised his eyes and looked firmly upon her. He also folded his
arms. "Rona," he said solemnly, "I have made up my mind. To go is my
duty; and it shall be at once."

She gave a gasp of relief. "Do not try to hinder me," continued Denzil,
with unnecessary heroism.

"To hinder you? I should think not," cried Rona. "As you say, to go is
your duty, and at once. I will not try to prevent you. Every minute is
precious." She moved, as if to leave the spot.

Denzil gazed at her with wistful reproach. "You agree—you think," he

faltered, "that I should set out literally at once?"

"Of course I do! There can be no doubt! Come, let us go to the house
and tell Aunt Bee, and arrange about the guests and so on. Each moment
that we stand talking here may increase your difficulties when you get out
there."

He tried once more. "Rona! Will you really send me away like this?"
 She stopped short, looking blank. "I thought you had decided that it is
your duty."

His voice was broken by emotion. "But I thought—I thought—that you

would have been sorry to let me go."

"Forgive me," said Rona, "but I don't seem able to think about that. I
feel so guilty, my own heart has been such a traitor, I can't bear to think of
him out there, alone, unwanted ... when I think that I have wished so
earnestly to be free from him I could—Oh, I tell you I could kill myself!"

She turned away, hiding her face in her hands. And Denzil, after a
moment's hesitation, chose the wiser part, and turning, went away and left
her to wrestle with her remorse.

CHAPTER XXII

FOREBODINGS
She was 'ware of a shadow that crossed where she lay,
She was 'ware of a presence that withered the day.
The Lay of the Brown Rosary.

Miss Rawson had frequently before been left, while Denzil was away, in
sole charge at Normansgrave. She was a woman of courage, and it had
never occurred to her before to be nervous in the absence of the master of
the house. But now she was nervous, and for a reason which she could not
define.

She told herself that she was no longer young, and that she had been
unduly shaken by the surprising turn of events. The knowledge that Felix
still lived, the tidings of his danger, the sudden departure of her nephew, the
break-up of the house-party, and the waiting for news in the forsaken house,
broke her rest and gave her bad dreams.

The sight of Rona's white face and dilated eyes affected her
uncomfortably. Rona was in a very highly-strung condition, and would start
at the least sound. She had seemed feverishly anxious to let Denzil go—had
displayed a curious reserve on bidding him farewell; but her manifest
depression since he went could be attributed, thought Miss Rawson, to but
one cause.

Rona was so restless that it was painful to see her. She wandered from
garden to park, and back into the house, aimlessly. Her usual occupations,
reading, writing, gardening, cycling, golfing, were all laid aside. Nothing
interested her, far less contented her. And she either would not or could not
confide in the elder woman who had been so good to her. Her wide,
unseeing eyes, her tightly folded lips, kept Miss Rawson at a distance. She
could see that the girl was desperately unhappy—she would have said more
unhappy than even the circumstances satisfactorily accounted for—but she
could do nothing for her but leave her free to indulge her melancholy.

On Sunday, after breakfast, she asked whether she thought of going to

church. Rona said "No" hastily, rose from the table abruptly, and seemed as
if she would go out of the open French window upon the lawn. Miss
Rawson felt that she ought to remonstrate.

"Rona," she said, "I think you should go. Denzil would wish it; I am
sure we stand in need of help at this moment."

The girl stood in the window, her eyes fixed, her attitude tense.

"I feel afraid to go," she said, after a minute's pause.

"Isn't that rather a foolish thing to say?" asked Miss Rawson, gently.

"Something dreadful is going to happen—don't you feel it?" said Rona,

in a whisper. "I feel as if it might happen in church."
 Miss Rawson stared. She knew that she, too, was under the influence of
that strange idea that something was about to happen. She looked upon it as
a thing that should be fought against. "Surely," she said, kindly, "church is
the safest place."

Rona looked at her wistfully, and heaved a sigh. "Very well, dearest,"
said she, affectionately, "if you think so." So saying, she crossed the room
and went upstairs to get ready.

It was a lovely morning, and the pretty little church was very full. But it
seemed that Rona could not fix her mind upon what she was doing. She sat
all the time like one in a dream, furtively glancing behind her, over her
shoulder, as though she expected to see something alarming.

During the sermon it was painful to watch her difficulty in remaining

quiet. She was usually full of repose, but to-day she changed her position,
fidgeted, looked up, looked down, looked around; until the irritation of
Miss Rawson's nerves grew almost unbearable.

At last the service was over. They rose from their places, and moved
slowly down the central space, between the chairs. Three parts of the way
down, an elderly man, coarse and stout, but dressed like a gentleman, stood
hat in hand, his eyes fixed upon them both, something that was not quite a
smile, nor quite a sneer, lurking in his eyes and unpleasant mouth.

As they passed him, he spoke quietly, but quite audibly.

"Well, Veronica," he said, smoothly, "have you nothing to say to your

Uncle Rankin?"

In that awful moment Miss Rawson was the more agitated of the two. It
seemed that, now the blow had fallen, the strange tension and restlessness
of the girl had passed away, and her spirit leaped up to wrestle with this
realization of her vague forebodings. She gravely shook hands with her
uncle, and said, in an undertone, "Let us wait to talk until we are outside."

They moved with the thinning stream of people to the porch, and out
into the oppressive heat of a gray day that threatened thunder.
 There Rona turned to Miss Rawson, and said, still very quietly, "This is
my mother's uncle, Rankin Leigh."

Aunt Bee had had a moment in which to collect herself. She bowed to
the disagreeable looking man who stood truculently there in the road, his
hat slightly pushed back upon his head, his eyes full of an odious triumph,
as thinking he had the whip hand of the situation.

"Pleased to meet any friend of my niece's, ma'am," said he, familiarly.

"And who may you be, if I may take the liberty to inquire?"

"My name is Rawson," said Aunt Bee, with a valiant attempt not to
display the distaste she felt. "Are you—are you—staying near here?"

The man grinned unpleasantly. "Oh, yes, quite near," he said—"most

convenient indeed."

"It is convenient," said Miss Rawson, whose mind, working with

velocity under the stress of the moment, had determined that, as the man
was there, he must be more or less propitiated and made use of. How
thankful she felt that Denzil had so lately heard all of the affair that Rona
and the Mother Superior could tell them! "I have been wishing to meet you,
as your niece begins to feel that it is time she knew her own history."

The man looked at Rona. He looked at her from head to foot. It was a
look that made Miss Rawson burn with disgust—such a look as the owner
of a beautiful slave might cast over her points when bringing her to the
slave market. The girl was charming. From head to heel she was worth
looking at. Her form, her head, her wrists and ankles, her hands, and even
such details as finger-nails and eye-lashes, were all exceptionally good. He
gazed with the eye of the expert, appraising everything.

"She looks very well," he said, evidently trying to speak civilly.

"I think she is very well. She never ails anything," said Miss Rawson.

"May I ask how long she has lived with you, ma'am?" asked Mr. Leigh.
 "For more than two years," replied the lady. She had by now decided
what to say. "I came across her case in a hospital, and was much interested
in her. She had been very badly hurt."

The man, still peering at Rona, licked his lips. "And you have taken
upon yourself the burden of her ever since?" he said, with evident surprise.
"I assure you, madam, you should have been relieved of your charge before
this, had I known where to find my niece. She ran away from me. Perhaps
she did not tell you that?"

"Oh, yes, she did," replied Miss Rawson, steadily. "She is a very good
girl, and I have no wish to be relieved of the care of her."

"That is very kind of you, ma'am. But unfortunately, the young woman
has her living to earn," he said.

"I know," replied Miss Rawson, "and she has been so educated that I
hope she can do so without difficulty. Her plans are made. Come, Mr.
Leigh," she went on, briskly, "we must have some further talk on this
matter, and, I think, not in the middle of the road. When can you come to
see me?"

He was evidently surprised and pleased at her tone. "Any time,

practically, would do for me," he replied, more politely than he had yet
spoken.

Miss Rawson reflected. "Well," she said, "I should like you to dine with
me, if you will be so kind. But to-day and to-morrow we are, unfortunately,
particularly engaged. Will you come to dinner with us on Tuesday, at seven-
thirty?"

As she spoke, the victoria, which had been waiting at the side of the
road, drove up quickly at a slight signal from herself. The man was
evidently taken aback by her manner, and flattered—perhaps a little
fluttered—by her invitation.

"I am obliged to you," he said. "Dinner on Tuesday at seven-thirty."