Optimal Task Placement for Energy Minimization in a Parallel Manipulator

This paper presents the optimization of the task placement to achieve energy efficiency in a parallel manipulator. The proposed approach is based on the parametrization of the task whose position and orientation are varied within the workspace of the robot. The energy consumed by the actuators is considered as the cost function for the optimization problem and is computed on the basis of the dynamic and electro-mechanical models of the manipulator. The method is general and can be used as an off-line tool for the optimal placement of different tasks within the workspace of the parallel manipulator.