Singularity-free Path Planning for the Stewart Platform Manipulator
by Bhaskar Dasgupta and T. S. Mruthyunjaya
Abstract:
This paper addresses the problem of singularity-free path planning for the
six-degree-of-freedom parallel manipulator known as the Stewart platform
manipulator. Unlike serial manipulators, the Stewart platform possesses
singular configurations within the workspace where the manipulator is
uncontrollable. An algorithm has been developed to construct continuous
paths within the workspace of the manipulator by avoiding singularities
and ill-conditioning. Given two end-poses of the manipulator, the
algorithm finds out safe (well-conditioned) via points and plans a
continuous path from the initial pose to the final one. When the two
end-poses belong to different branches and no singularity-free path is
possible, the algorithm indicates the impossibility of a valid path.
A numerical example also has been presented as illustration of the
path planning strategy.