Minimum time trajectory planner for the discrete dynamic robot model with dynamic constraints

A minimum time trajectory planner is proposed for a manipulator arm. A totally discrete approach is adopted, in contrast to other models which use continuous-time but resort to discretization in the computation. The Neuman and Tourassis discrete-dynamic robot model is used to model the robot dynamics. The proposed trajectory planner includes joint-torque constraints to fully utilize the joint actuators. Realistic constraints such as the joint-jerk and joint-velocity constraints are incorporated into the model. The nonlinear optimization problem associated with the planner is partially linearized, which enables the iterative method of approximate programming to be used in solving the problem. Numerical examples for a two-link revolute arm are presented to demonstrate the use of the proposed trajectory planner. It is numerically verified that the convergence of the iterative algorithm is quadratic, and the trajectory planner therefore is computationally efficient. The use of a near-minimum time-cost function is also shown to yield a solution close to that obtained with the true minimum time-cost function