Smooth trajectory generation for rotating extensible manipulators.

Abstract

In this study the generation of smooth trajectories of the end-effector of a rotating extensible manipulator arm is considered. Possible trajectories are modelled using Cartesian and polar piecewise cubic interpolants expressed as polynomial Hermite-type functions. The use of polar piecewise cubic interpolants devises continuous first and - in some cases - second order derivatives and allows easy calculation of kinematics variables such as velocity and acceleration. Moreover, the manipulator equations of motion can be easily handled, and the constrained trajectory of the non-active end of the manipulator derived directly from the position of the end-effector. To verify the proposed approach, numerical simulations are conducted for two different configurations.