Abstract
This paper presents a general theory on the generation of smooth motion profiles for the coordinated motion of multi-axis manipulators with orthogonal regional structures. Motion with constant speed is important and required in many manufacturing processes, such as milling, welding, finishing and painting. In this paper, a piecewise constant speed profile is constructed by a sequence of Hermite cuves to form a composite Hermite curve in parametric domain. Due to the continuity of acceleration in the proposed speed profile, it generates relatively better product quality than traditional techniques. Besides, we also provide a method for the feasibility study of manufacture capability in terms of the given manipulator, the desired path, and the assigned speed. This includes the consideration of manipulator dynamics, actuator limitation, path geometry, jerk constraints and motion kinematics. The result is a general one and is applicable to all curves tracked by multi-axis manipulators with orthogonal regional structures.
