Dynamic Performance Analysis of a Robotic System Using Reliability-Based Design Optimization

In this investigation a robotic system's dynamic performance is optimized for high reliability under uncertainty. The dynamic capability equations (DCE) allow designers to predict the dynamic performance of a robotic system for a particular configuration and reference point on the end-effector (i.e.,point design). Here the DCE are used in conjunction with a reliability-based design optimization (RBDO) strategy in order to obtain designs with robust dynamic performance with respect to the end-effector reference point and additionally with respect to changing configurations with a fixed operational point. The workspace is characterized to determine the actuator inputs required to achieve a desired level of performance over a chosen percentage of configurations. In this work a unilevel performance measure approach (PMA) is used to perform RBDO. This is important for the reliable design of robotic systems in which a solution to the DCE is required for each constraint call. The method is illustrated on a robot design problem.