In compliant motmion planning, a. iiiodel of t,a.sk kin(.mat,ics facilit,ates t,he specification of robot, control strat,egies. This paper 1iresrnt.s a qualitmat,ive geoiiiet,ric reasoning approa.ch to 6he arialysis of robot, t.a.sk kiiieinatics. By clualit,ative geometric reasoning, we m m n t.he process of deriving a solut,ion based on a set, of geomet,ric rules in which t,he concept.^ are described in t,ernis of symbolic q~a l i t~a t i v e va.lues and partia.1orderitig relat,ioiis. The qualit,ative kiiieinatic analysis scheme permit,s comput.a.t~ioiiaIly efficient,, approsimate solution of kiiieiiiatic problems without using exact, iiiformat,ioii on t,he geomet,ry of meclianisnis under consideration a.nd provides a hasis for t,lie functional siiiiulat,ioii of mechanisms.