Force and dynamic manipulability for cooperating robot systems

The theory of force and dynamic manipulability for general systems of multiple co-operating robot manipulators is developed. Manipulability analysis refers to the study of the performance of the system regarding to the mechanical transformation of inputs (forces and torques at actuated joints) into outputs (forces and torques exchanged with the environment or accelerations of a reference member), in relation to different configurations of the system and different directions in the input and output spaces. For this purpose, the concept of manipulability ellipsoids for single robot arms is generalized so as to encompass multi-limb co-operating systems with general kinematic structure