Study of Performances of Manipulators Using Jacobian Matrices Homogenized by Two Approaches

A simulation study is accomplished in this paper to assess the effectiveness of two indices of performance to measure the ability of postures of industrial robots for converting joint-rates into motion of the end-effector. Both classes of motion of the end effector, translational and rotational, are simultaneously considered for evaluation. Consequently, the whole Jacobian matrix must be homogenized such that all its entries be coherently mixed in any index of performance. Specifically, two approaches for homogenization of the Jacobian matrix are compared. The first one, based on the so-called characteristic length of the manipulator, and the second one that uses the inertial parameters of the end-effector. The results show that the second approach allows to measure the performances of the manipulator with a clear physical meanning. To the knowledge of the authors, such a meaning cannot be obtained with any other index of performance based on a different homogenized Jacobian matrix.