PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF MANIPULATORS USING THE JACOBIAN AND ITS APPLICATION TO TRAJECTORY PLANNING.

The use of the Jacobian as a performance index of manipulators is discussed from the kinematic and static standpoint of view. The Jacobian is an index for the evaluation of manipulator dexterity at a point in the workspace. The index takes the least value at singular points at which the manipulator loses capability of moving in a certain direction and is least dexterous. The distribution of the index value in the whole workspace which is visualized on a color graphics display gives an overall understanding of the manipulator performance. This is illustrated by numerical examples for two different types of robotic manipulators with six revolute joints. As an example of application of this performance index, optimal trajectory planning using the index is presented. The trajectories obtained for several cases such as turning a crank show that the method generates a kinematically reasonable trajectory.