Optimal Base Position and Joint Configuration of a Wheeled Manipulator

In this paper, we investigate the optimal base position and joint configuration of a planar wheeled mobile manipulator in terms of manipulability measure. Taking into account the level of coordination between a manipulator and a platform, both local and global optimization problems are considered. First, based on the kinematic models of a mobile manipulator, the manipulability measures are expressed along with the analysis of the configurational dependency. Second, the geometric symmetry of a mobile manipulator in view of manipulability measure is analyzed, and for some base positions, the best and worst joint configurations are determined, Third, with reverence to the maximum, minimum, and average manipulability measures, the optimal base positions are determined, and the percent improvements due to the base relocation are discussed considering the relative scales among the platform size, the wheel radius, and the link length.