An improved transfer matrix method for multi-rigid-body systems is presented based on the structural characteristics of the manipulator and the relations between motion transfer and force transfer. Thus, a new model applicable to serial robots is obtained by using of discrete time transfer matrix method. Based on the improved method, a unified model for a manipulator with n DOF is derived. This model contains both kinematic and dynamic characteristics of the system. According to the motion transformation relation between the joint space and the operational space of the manipulator, the solution and the procedure are developed for both forward and inverse kinematics of the unified model. The simulation results of a 2DOF planar manipulator show the rightness of the modelling method and exhibit its superiority to other methods.