Determining Task Optimal Modular Robot Assembly Configurations

I-Ming Chen and Joel W. Burdick Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Mail Code 104-44, CALTECH, Pasadena, CA 91125 Abstract. A \modular" robotic system consists of standardized joint and link units that can be assembled into a number of di erent kinematic con gurations in order to meet di erent task requirements. Given a predetermined set of modules, this paper considers the problem of nding an \optimal" module assembly con guration for a speci c task. We formulate the solution as a discrete optimization procedure. The formulation is based on an assembly incidence matrix representation of a modular assembly con guration and a general task-oriented objective function that can incorporate many realistic task criteria. Genetic algorithms (GA) are employed to solve this optimization problem, and a canonical method to represent a modular assembly in terms of genetic strings is introduced. An example involving a 3-DOF manipulator con guration is presented to demonstrate the feasibility of this approach.