Optimal Path Planning and Task Adjustment for Cooperative Flexible Manipulators

Accuracy and energy consumption are key aspects to be considered when using serial manipulators in industrial environment. Affordable operational and maintenance costs are very important issues for automated processes. However, high performance robots also require increasing precision when performing sophisticated tasks. In this paper a method for optimal path planning and task adjustment of cooperative flexible manipulators is presented. The trajectory of two manipulators while manipulating a single object in a collaborative task and the object placement are written as an optimization problem. End-effector positioning and torque requirements are considered together in an optimal control formulation, aiming at improving accuracy and energy consumption during the path planning. The flexibility effects of manipulators working in a vertical workspace are taken into account, and joint limits are considered in a box-constrained objective function, to ensure the movement feasibility at the optimal configuration. Simulation results demonstrate the viability of the proposed methodology.