Minimum-torque path planning of space robots using genetic algorithms

Space robots will play a significant role in future space services. However, the energy supplied to the space robot system in space is limited because of the lower ratio of the solar panel. Therefore, the robotic manipulator's trajectory should be optimum so that the torque of the manipulator can be minimized in order to save energy. This paper presents a minimum-torque path-planning scheme for space robots. In this formulation, a genetic-approach is used to minimize the objective function. The planning procedure is performed in joint space and with respect to all constraints, such as joint angle constraints, joint velocity constraints, joint angular acceleration and torque constraints, and so on. We use a genetic algorithm (GA) to search the optimal joint inter-knot parameters in order to realize the minimum-torque. These joint inter-knot parameters mainly include joint angle and joint angular velocities. The simulation results attest that GA-based minimum-torque path-planning method has satisfactory performance and real value.