Trajectory coordination for a cooperative multi-manipulator system and dynamic simulation error analysis

Abstract To achieve temporal and spatial correspondence between multiple robotic manipulators, the system must correctly analyze the coordinated path required for a specific task. Based on manipulator kinematics analysis, we first studied the kinematic constraints between the end-effectors of cooperative manipulators, and deduced the multi-manipulator cooperative kinematics constraint equations in the Cartesian coordinate system space under different motion modes. Then, we created two MD-6 manipulator models to simulate the trajectory simulation of the synchronous and relative motion of the manipulator. This allowed us to verify the correctness of the proposed trajectory coordination method, and analyze the influence of external loads on the position and posture of the end-effector of the manipulator, to effectively predict the cooperative motion error of the manipulator system. Finally, in order to verify the effectiveness of the proposed trajectory coordination method, we established a robotic experimental platform and conducted experimental research. The results show that the multi-manipulator trajectory coordination method studied in this paper can make multi-manipulators effectively achieve the target requirements of tasks such as time and space cooperative handling and circular drawing operations.