TASK PLANNING FOR SERIAL REDUNDANT MANIPULATORS

The first stage in developing a task planning language for redundant m anipulators is that of constructing an algorithm to produce a schedule of joint displacements for the specified task. This algorithm may be based upon the use of an inverse infinitesimal kinematic analysis for the majority of the path with a finite inverse analysis used to provid e an initial joint configuration and periodically to correct for any j oint errors that may have accumulated. Here, it is assumed that there is complete correlation and coherence of solutions between these analy ses, otherwise problems, such as a lack of repeatability may occur. Th is may be accomplished by modelling the manipulator as an elastic syst em which permits the development of a task planning method by using an alyses which are all mutually coherent. In this paper, the method is d eveloped and demonstrated using a redundant manipulator that simultane ously avoids obstables, singularities and joint motion limitations. Th e task planning method and associated analyses are applicable to the g eneral serial redundant manipulator with an arbitrary degree of redund ancy.