Trajectory Planning for Redundant Manipulators in the Presence of Obstacles

Summary: The class of problems involving motion synthesis for redundant manipulators in the environment with obstacles will be discussed. An algorithm for calculating col­ lision-free trajectory in the space of joint co-ordinates, given an end-effector trajectory in the space of external co-ordinates, is proposed. The algorithm is based on the use of performance indices in the space of joint co-ordinates and external co-ordinates which prevent any of the manipulator links from entering a forbidden zone around the obstacle. The algorithm is completely automatized, i.e. provides motion synthesis for arbitrary structures of redundant manipulators, different trajectories and obstacles. The algorithm is illustrated by an example of a five-degree- f-freedom manipulator moving along a trajectory specified by three Cartesian co- rdinates.