Robotic Manipulator Task Sequencing and Minimum Snap Trajectory Generation

This paper presents a proposed technique for simple five-axis on-the-fly laser drilling trajectory optimization and task sequencing in the aerospace industry. Also, a time-optimized trajectory generation technique for this type of laser drilling has been presented. Within the optimization process, by adjusting the velocity and acceleration conditions at the location of holes to attain the maximum time compression while minimizing the fourth time derivative’s integral square, the trajectories for individual hole clusters are optimized. Hole elongation, axis velocity, acceleration and jerk constraints have been taken into consideration. Furthermore, the technique of fitting cyclic (i.e. closed curve) cubic splines, the evaluation of kinematic constraints from spline coefficients and the effect of uniform time scaling on a derivative profile in the field of five-axis laser drilling applications have been presented in this paper. All proposed algorithms have been verified by either simulation or experiment on gas turbine combustion chamber panels. Simulation results showed promising improvements as cycle time was reduced by nearly 90% for some experimental parts.