A METHOD FOR POINT-TO-POINT MOTION PLANNING OF FLEXIBLE MANIPULATORS IS PRESENTED. A KINEMATIC MODEL BASED ON THE ALGEBRA OF ROTATIONS IS DEVELOPED TO DECOUPLE LINK DEFLECTIONS FROM JOINT MOTIONS. WITH THIS SIMPLIFIED KINEMATIC MODEL, THE END-EFFECTOR MOTION CAN BE CONSIDERED AS THE COMBINATION OF THREE MOTIONS: MOTION OF RIGID LINK MANIPULATOR, LINK DEFLECTIONS, AND LINK DEFLECTION VARIATIONS DUE TO CONFIGURATION CHANGES. THE RELATION BETWEEN THE END-EFFECTOR MOTION AND THE THREE MOTIONS IS EXPLICITLY EXPRESSED IN TERMS OF THREE RESPECTIVE JACOBIANS. AN ALGORITHM IS PROPOSED FOR IMPLEMENTING POINT-TO-POINT MOTION PLANNING OF FLEXIBLE MANIPULATORS. IT CONSISTS OF TWO STEPS, ONE FOR JOINT MOTIONS AND THE OTHER FOR LINK DEFLECTION VARIATIONS. THE COMPUTATIONAL EFFICIENCY AND THE ACCURACY OF THE PROPOSED METHOD ARE ALSO INVESTIGATED.
| Number of Pages : | 11 |
| Published : | 06/01/1991 |
