A NEW METHOD FOR COMPOSING THE EQUATIONS OF A SPLINE FROM SPECIFIED POINTS

To construct spline functions when designing robot motion, one has to realize a smooth trajectory which passes through a sequence of specifi ed points. A new method for this purpose which emulates the elastic be nding line of a thin ribbon with discretely-specified points is propos ed in this paper. A methodology for composing exact equations for an a rbitrarily sharp bending of the ribbon is presented. The results diffe r in principle from the existing ones in that they deliver an ideally smooth mating of the trajectory segments at the specified points. A co rresponding simplified solution of the problem is presented at the end of the paper.