A Novel Trajectory Generation Method for Robot Control

Abstract

This paper presents a novel trajectory generator based on Dynamic Movement Primitives (DMP). The key ideas from the original DMP formalism are extracted, reformulated and extended from a control theoretical viewpoint. This method can generate smooth trajectories, satisfy position- and velocity boundary conditions at start- and endpoint with high precision, and follow accurately geometrical paths as desired. Paths can be complex and processed as a whole, and smooth transitions can be generated automatically. Performance is analyzed for several cases and a comparison with a spline-based trajectory generation method is provided. Results are comparable and, thus, this novel trajectory generating technology appears to be a viable alternative to the existing solutions not only for service robotics but possibly also in industry.