Interactive Virtual Reality Simulator for the Optimally Controlled Space Robotic Manipulators
- Paper number
IAC-08.C2.3.2
- Author
Prof. Pavel M. Trivailo, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), Australia
- Coauthor
Mr. Ka Wai LEE, RMIT University, Australia, Australia
- Year
2008
- Abstract
This paper presents results on non-linear modelling, simulation and visualisation of optimally controlled space robotic manipulators in the Virtual Reality environment using a software package simulator developed for space education and research at RMIT University in Australia. This software package combines the advantages of GUI development in Visual Basic and the Virtual Reality 3D environment display in VRML with the support of Cortona SDK. The package not only allows to simulate the robotic manipulators in the 3D environment, but also provides interactive GUI controls to manipulate functions for better insight into the nature of the complex behaviour of single and compound multiple robotic systems. In order to demonstrate the application of the Virtual Reality simulator, the authors further develop the models presented in their previous publications related to the collision-free optimal trajectory planning of robotic manipulators in the presence of morphing obstacles in the 2D and 3D environment. In the current paper, we consider the operation of the robotic manipulator with different types of obstacles in 3D (three dimensions) as an example of showing the versatile capabilities of the virtual reality simulator. The optimal solutions are of minimal control effort and minimal time with an assumption of rigid robotic arms, which should deliver the payload to the specified destination, but avoid colliding with the non-stationary obstacles. The solutions of the associated non-linear differential equations of motion in viwe of numerous non-linaer constraints are obtained numerically using direct transcription methods. The direct method seeks to transform the continuous optimal control problem into a discrete mathematical programming problem, which in turn is solved using a non-linear programming algorithm. By discretising the state and control variables at a series of nodes, the integration of the dynamical equations of motion is avoided. The Chebyshev pseudospectral method was chosen as the direct optimization method due to its high accuracy and fast computation times.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-08.C2.3.2.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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