Inverse Kinematics

Inverse kinematics is the computational problem of determining the joint angles required to position and orient the end-effector (tool) of an articulated mechanism at a desired pose (position and orientation). In contrast to forward kinematics, which computes end-effector position from joint angles, inverse kinematics solves the reverse mapping. This is essential for robot control: given a desired target location, IK finds the joint commands that achieve it.