Structure-control dynamic design of parallel robots for end-effector trajectory tracking and singularity avoidance

In this paper, the integrated design of a parallel robot and its controller is stated as a nonlinear dynamic optimization problem (NLDOP), where the robot structural parameters and the controller gains are simultaneously found in order to track a desired trajectory with singularity avoidance. The dynamics of the parallel robot, which is nonlinear differential equations (NLDEs), is included into the NLDOP as equality constraints. A constraint handling differential evolution technique (CHDET) is used for solving the NLDOP. Finally, the design of a planar 5R 2DoF parallel robot and its controller demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed approach via simulation results.