Optimal motions planning for a GOUGH parallel robot

This article deals with the problem of planning optimal trajectories for a GOUGH parallel robot. The planning process consists of searching for a motion ensuring the accomplishment of the assigned task, minimizing a cost function and satisfying various constraints inherent to the robot kinematics and dynamics. This problem is treated via (i) an adequate parameterization of the operational coordinates of the mobile platform and (ii) the use of the sequential quadratic programming method for solving the resulting nonlinear optimization problem. The proposed approach is applied to tasks involving either point-to-point motions or motions along specified paths.