Placement of Robot Manipulators to Maximize Dexterity

Abstract

this paper, we pose the problem in an optimization form without the utilization of an inverse kinematics algorithm, but rather by employing a dexterity measure. A new dexterous performance measure is developed and used to characterize a formulation for moving the workspace envelope (and hence the robot base) to a new position and orientation. Using this dexterous measure, numerical techniques for placement of the robot and based on a method for determining the exact boundary to the workspace are presented and implemented in computer code. Examples are given to illustrate the techniques developed using planar and spatial serial manipulators.