Near Time-Optimal Control of Redundant Manipulators along a Specified Path with Jerks Constraint

A time-optimal control scheme for a general type of closed-chain manipulator is proposed. The considered manipulator is composed of multiple serial manipulators that are connected to each other and single manipulators may be kinematically redundant. Also, the limit on the actuator torques and actuator jerks are considered. The jerk constraints create a smooth trajectory for reducing strain on robot actuators and satisfy torque limitations of industrial actuators. Inclusion of the jerk constraints increases the traversal time, hence, a method is introduced to optimize this time. To this end, a simple method to find switching points is investigated. (C) Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden and The Robotics Society of Japan, 2011