Time-dependant trajectory generation for tele-operated mobile manipulator

Mobile manipulators are robots able to accomplish complicated missions, requiring the conjunction of the mobility and the manipulation. This paper is centred on the study of the movement of a single-armed wheeled vehicle. The mobile robot provides mobility to the robotic arm, and adds more degrees of freedom. Manipulation tasks might be, thus, performed in a large workspace. Human can often be replaced by a wirelessly controlled mobile manipulator for fulfilling dangerous and tedious missions. In the context of tele-robotics, an operator is placed in a remote site, and supervises the movement of the robot, or sends orders. The robot executes the movement. This paper proposes the analysis of the movement of a wirelessly controlled mobile manipulator. Time-dependent trajectories are generated and sent to the robot. The feasibility and the performance of a RobuTER/ULM mobile manipulator for achieving the mission are tested. The influence of the sampling time and the control process are discussed.