Point-to-point quasi-static motion planning for flexible-link manipulators

Point-to-point quasi-static motion planning is essential for effectively controlling the elastic deformations and vibrations of the end-effector of flexible-link manipulators. In this paper, this problem is formulated considering the kinematic equations and link deflection equations of the manipulator. An algorithm is proposed to obtain the numerical solution to the problem by utilizing the Newton-Raphson method. The kinematic equations and link deflection equations, as well as their differential relationships, are derived by using the algebra of rotations. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated in examples.>