Functional Co-Optimization of Articulated Robots

TL;DR

This paper introduces a parametric trajectory optimization method that co-optimizes robot physical parameters and motions, leading to more efficient designs and feasible motion plans with reduced actuation requirements.

Contribution

The authors propose a novel joint optimization framework for robot physical parameters and trajectories, requiring minimal user input and demonstrated on simulated and physical robots.

Findings

Optimized robot parameters improve motion feasibility.

Reduced actuation requirements in optimized robots.

Physical robot fabricated to validate simulation results.

Abstract

We present parametric trajectory optimization, a method for simultaneously computing physical parameters, actuation requirements, and robot motions for more efficient robot designs. In this scheme, robot dimensions, masses, and other physical parameters are solved for concurrently with traditional motion planning variables, including dynamically consistent robot states, actuation inputs, and contact forces. Our method requires minimal user domain knowledge, requiring only a coarse guess of the target robot configuration sequence and a parameterized robot topology as input. We demonstrate our results on four simulated robots, one of which we physically fabricated in order to demonstrate physical consistency. We demonstrate that by optimizing robot body parameters alongside robot trajectories, motion planning problems which would otherwise be infeasible can be made feasible, and actuation requirements can be significantly reduced.