Robot Arm Reconfiguration to Minimization Moving Parts

Background and Objectives: This paper presents a new optimization problem in the field of linkage reconfiguration. This is the problem of minimizing moving parts of a given robot arm for positioning the end effector of the given robot arm at the given target point as well as minimizing the movement of the movable parts. Methods: Initially, formal modeling is accomplished by minimizing the movement problem. At this time, a criterion called AM (Arithmetic Measure) is introduced, and this criterion is used to quantify the motion of the linkage. Afterward, it is indicated that the presented problem is an NP-Hard problem. Consequently, a greedy heuristic algorithm is presented to minimize the movement of the robot's moving components. After identifying the moving components and the movement of these parts, an algorithm is provided to determine the final configuration of the robot arm. Results: The results indicate that the discussed model successfully reduced the moving parts of the robot arm. Moreover, the results show that the proposed approach fulfills the goal of minimization of the linkage components. Furthermore, this method leads to erosion of arm, reduces energy consumption and the required parameters and variables for calculating the final configuration of the linkages. Conclusion: The mentioned algorithm solves the problem by mapping the robot arm with an arbitrary number of links to a robot with a single link or two links. The proposed heuristic approach requires O(n2) time using O(n) space.======================================================================================================Copyrights©2018 The author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers.======================================================================================================