Framework for Task Based Design of Robot Manipulators

Abstract

In this paper, a new design technique called Task Based Design (TBD) is proposed to design an optimal robot manipulator for a given task. Optimal design of a manipulator is difficult because it involves implicit and highly nonlinear functions of many design variables for a complex task. TBD designs an optimal manipulator which performs a given task best, by using a framework called Progressive Design which decomposes the complexity of the task into three steps: kinematic design, planning and kinematic control. An example of TBD is presented to demonstrate the efficiency and effectiveness of our framework.