Configuration analysis of a 6R manipulator based on an improved performance index

By analyzing the configuration of a 6R manipulator based on global performance index, the problem is proposed in this paper. The performances of two configurations cannot be compared based on the global performance index, if the configurations have same index. To solve the problem, an improved performance index is proposed in this paper. Firstly, this paper points out the boundary distribution index (BDI) based on the distribution of the singular points in the workspace. Secondly, the effectiveness of BDI is verified by comparing with the existing performance index. In addition, an improved performance index is established with the combination of the existing performance index and BDI. Then, the effect of offset on the manipulator is analyzed based on the improved performance index. Finally, the optimized configuration is obtained by the improved performance index and contrasts with other configuration. Then, the effectiveness of the improved performance index is verified.