Optimizing trajectory tracking of robots via concurrent design and control

The traditional way to optimize robot performance has been to improvise on the control law, and the effect of the robot design on the performance remains largely unexplored. This paper presents simulations which demonstrate that the design of the robot plays an important role in its achievable performance. This suggests that if the robot design and control law are simultaneously improvised better robot performance can be obtained. The need for a concurrent approach to robot design and control is thus highlighted