Base station searching for manipulators with huge objective workpieces

Although industrial manipulators are widely utilized on transport and assembly, applying paint to large objects, such as ships or aircraft, is challenging because of the limited workspace available. We made a trial to place a manipulator on a mobile coordinative platform to enable its workspace to be greatly extended. Then, a difficult problem is put forward that it generally takes a long time to find the optimal stop position for the manipulator based on the experience of the operator. To address this problem, we present a method for determining the appropriate stop position of the platform under the manipulator based on the observation that the manipulator could obtain greater flexibility when its joints are closer to the original configuration. In this paper, a search algorithm for initial stations is first presented, followed by optimization with consideration of the manipulator´s reachability. The results of the experimental simulation are then discussed, and an evaluation of the planning quality and efficiency is performed.