Predictive Control of Cooperative Robots Sharing Common Workspace

We present a model predictive control (MPC) algorithm for online time-optimal trajectory planning of cooperative robotic manipulators. Robotic arms sharing a common confined operational space are exposed to high interrobot collision risks. For collision avoidance, a smooth robot geometry approximation by Bézier curves is applied, utilizing velocity constraints and tangent separating planes, enabling an efficient generation of robot trajectories in real-time. The proposed optimization algorithm is validated on an experimental setup consisting of two collaborative robotic arms performing synchronous pick-and-place tasks.