Using task descriptions for designing optimal task specific manipulators

Computing the optimal geometric structure of manipulators is one of the most intricate problems in contemporary robot kinematics. Industrial robotic manipulators are designed and built to perform certain predetermined tasks. It is therefore important to incorporate such task requirements during the design and synthesis of the robotic manipulators. Such task requirements and/or performance constraints can be specified in terms of the required end-effector positions, orientations along the task trajectory. In this work, we define, develop and test a methodology that can generate optimal manipulator geometric structures based on the task requirements. Another objective of this work is to guarantee task performance under user defined joint constraints. Using this methodology, task-specific optimal manipulator structures can be generated that guarantee task performance under a set of operating constraints.