Self-Motion Representation and Global Path Planning Optimization for Redundant Manipulators through Topology-Based Discretization

• Authors: Carlos L. Lü/ck
• Venue: Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems
• Year: 1997

This paper addresses manipulator redundancy from a global perspective, aiming at kinematic control through the exploration of self-motion topology. The methodology is based on collecting information about the structure of the kinematic map with the use of topological tools, providing an overall view of the configuration space and its relationship to the work space – a suitable framework for the efficient implementation of global approaches. A space discretization method has been developed to benefit from the topological structure, embedding kinematics in its representation. This method enables an efficient exploration of global redundancy resolution and path planning, offering the means to avoid local minima and deadlocks with minimum effort. The discretization was implemented for a planar manipulator, demonstrating significant improvement in the search for globally optimum solutions of path planning when compared to traditional approaches.