Motion control of flexible robot manipulators via optimizing redundant configurations

The motion control of flexible manipulators is an advanced topic in the field of robotics. The end-effector error caused by the elastic deformation of manipulators is required to be minimum in order to improve the motion accuracy of flexible manipulators. The present study addresses on the motion planning of flexible manipulators with kinematic redundancy. Three strategies are presented for the motion planning of flexible redundant manipulators. A concept of redundant configuration is proposed. By optimizing the initial joint configuration and the self-motion of manipulators simultaneously, as well as individually, the end-point error of flexible robots is decreased effectively. Compared with the methods of initial configuration and self-motion planning, the numerical simulation of a 4R spatial manipulator shows the superiority of the new strategy of redundant configurations in controlling the motion error of flexible manipulators. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.