Study on the Kinematic Performance of Robot Manipulators Using the Theory of Velocityspace

In this paper, a new concept --- maniptilator velocityspace is proposed, which is defined as the aggregate of all possible velocities of a point attached to the free end of the manipulator at a certain configuration. Some basic properties regarding the velocityspaces are derived and discussed in detail. The shape and the volume of the velotityspace are considered as the performance index of a maniputator from the kinematic standpoint of view. In general, the larger the volume of velocityspace, the better the kinematic performance of the manipulator. And the kinematic performance of the manipulator is isotrophic white velocityspace takes the shape of regular polygon or polyhedron, The theory of vetocityspace can be applied to kinematic analysis, optimal trajectory planning, mechanism design and configuration analysis,, etc.