Non-redundant robotic manipulator acceleration capability and the actuation efficiency measure

This article presents a performance measure, the actuation efficiency, which describes the imbalance between the end-effector accelerations achievable in different directions of non-redundant robotic manipulators. A key feature of the proposed measure is that in its development the unitary differences between linear and angular accelerations are treated in a physically meaningful manner. The measure also indicates oversized actuators, since this contributes to the imbalance in achievable accelerations. The development of this measure is based on the formulation of the Dynamic Capability Hypersurface. The shape of this hypersurface is a weak indicator of the level of imbalance in achievable end-effector accelerations.