Motion constraints reference | Motion

Motion constraints reference

You can constrain the motion of your machine using the motion service’s built-in constraint options. Constraints are passed as arguments to the Move method.

The following constraints are available:

Linear constraint

The linear constraint ({"motion_profile": "linear"}) forces the path taken by component_name to follow an exact linear path from the start to the goal. If the start and goal orientations are different, the orientation along the path will follow the quaternion Slerp (Spherical Linear Interpolation) of the orientation from start to goal. This has the following sub-options:

Parameter Name Type Default Description
line_tolerance_mm float 0.1 Max linear deviation from straight-line between start and goal, in mm.
orientation_tolerance_degs float 2.0 Allowable deviation from Slerp between start/goal orientations, in degrees.

Example usage:


You can find more information in the Python SDK Docs.


You can find more information in the Go SDK Docs.

Orientation constraint

The orientation constraint ({"motion_profile": "orientation"}) places a restriction on the orientation change during a motion, such that the orientation during the motion does not deviate from the Slerp between start and goal by more than a set amount. This is similar to the “orient_tolerance” option in the linear profile, but without any path restrictions. If set to zero, a movement with identical starting and ending orientations will hold that orientation throughout the movement.

Parameter Name Type Default Description
orientation_tolerance_degs float 2.0 Allowable deviation from Slerp between start/goal orientations, in degrees.

Example usage:



You can find more information in the Go SDK Docs.

Next steps

Constraints are used in the following tutorials:

Claw Game
Create your own version of the famous arcade claw machine using a robotic arm and a claw grabber.

Add motion constraints
Use constraints and transforms with the motion service.