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A Multiobjective Optimal Path Planning for a 1-DOF
Clutched ARM
Hao Gu
a
& Marco Ceccarelli
a
a
Laboratory of Robotics and Mechatronics (LARM), Department of Mechanics, Structures,
Environment and Territory (DIMSAT), University of Cassino, Cassino, Italy
Available online: 10 Jan 2012
To cite this article: Hao Gu & Marco Ceccarelli (2012): A Multiobjective Optimal Path Planning for a 1-DOF Clutched ARM,
Mechanics Based Design of Structures and Machines: An International Journal, 40:1, 109-121
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15397734.2011.609090
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Mechanics Based Design of Structures and Machines, 40: 109121, 2012
Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 1539-7734 print/1539-7742 online
DOI: 10.1080/15397734.2011.609090
Innovative Application Brief
A MULTIOBJECTIVE OPTIMAL PATH PLANNING
FOR A 1-DOF CLUTCHED ARM
#
Hao Gu and Marco Ceccarelli
Laboratory of Robotics and Mechatronics (LARM), Department of Mechanics,
Structures, Environment and Territory (DIMSAT), University of Cassino,
Cassino, Italy
In this paper, a procedure of optimal path planning is proposed for the operation of the
anthropomorphic low-cost easy-operation LARM clutched arm with only one actuator.
An algorithm is proposed for path planning of the arm motion with multiobjective
considerations that take into account of traveling time, energy consumption, and end-
effector performance. Numerical examples and laboratory experiments are reported to
show the feasibility of the proposed path planning and the efciency of the LARM
clutched arm.
Keywords: Clutch systems; Humanoid robots; Robotic arms; Path planning.
INTRODUCTION
Industrial robots are typical examples of robotic arms, which are widely
used in factory today (ABB, 2011; COMAU, 2011; KUKA, 2011). Other popular
examples are the robotic arms in humanoid robots like in ASIMO by Honda (2011),
and ARMAR by University of Karlsrahe (Albers et al., 2007), and the Care-O-
bot by Fraunhofer IPA (Graf et al., 2009). Most of these existing robotic arms are
designed as multiactuator systems, which operate with fast movement and precise
positioning. But they are very expensive and complex systems for no expert users.
Mainly for service applications in home and public places, very precise or
dexterous manipulations are not, in general, required (Morales et al., 2005). Thus,
it is possible to design a robotic arm simpler and cheaper, by reducing the number
of actuators, as attempted in Nakamura et al. (2001), Karbasi et al. (2006), and
Gu et al. (2010). However, the nonholonomic solution in Nakamura et al. (2001)
increases the control complexity; the Chebychev-Pantograph mechanism in Nava
(2006) does not provide a sufcient workspace; the Unidrive Modular Robot system
in Karbasi et al. (2006) is not suitable for robotic arms; and the Armatron (Carroll,
Received April 5, 2011; Accepted July 11, 2011
#
Communicated by P. Larochelle.
Correspondence: Hao Gu, Laboratory of Robotics and Mechatronics (LARM), Department
of Mechanics, Structures, Environment and Territory (DIMSAT), University of Cassino, Via G. Di
Biasio, 43, Cassino 03043, Italy; E-mail: hao.gu@unicas.it
109
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110 GU AND CECCARELLI
2007) is just a toy with no automation built in and no proper payload capability for
practical applications.
At LARM (Laboratory of Robotics and Mechatronics, University of Cassino,
Italy), a new robotic arm named as LARM clutched arm (Gu et al., 2010) has been
proposed with only a single motor by using a clutch system. Such a 1-DOF solution
is still versatile within a 3D workspace. In previous works (Gu et al., 2010; Gu and
Ceccarelli, 2010a), simulations and preliminary experimental tests have validated the
feasibility of the design concept. Recently, a prototype has been built with a proper
control system.
The operation task for LARM clutched arm can be summarized as in two
parts: trajectory planning, in which the arm generates a prescribed trajectory, and
optimal path planning, in which a point-to-point motion is optimized to achieve
certain task objectives. The trajectory-planning task has already been achieved with
an efcient algorithm in Gu and Ceccarelli (2010a). Optimal path planning can
strongly affect the efciency of using its single actuator. Moreover, a proper path
can particularly overcome its natural drawback in terms of operation speed.
A preliminary study on an optimal path-planning task has been carried out
by investigating the planar motion of the limb part in a 2D optimal path planning
in Gu and Ceccarelli (2010b). However, the multiobjective formulation in Gu
and Ceccarelli (2010b) is not completely formulated to evaluate the path-planning
characteristics, and the numerical results in Gu and Ceccarelli (2010b) are not
validated by tests.
The purpose of this paper is to present a proper procedure of optimal
path planning for such a new robotic arm with 1-DOF by using numerical and
experimental results to show its engineering feasibility.
THE LARM CLUTCHED ARM
The conceptual design of the LARM clutched arm consists of a compact
shoulder that can perform required rotations (R
1
to R
3
) for a three-revolute
manipulator. The main idea is to use a proper clutch system to obtain three
submotions from the source motion of a single motor.
Figure 1 illustrates the mechanical design of the shoulder, which is the key part
to achieve the concept idea into a practical system. This shoulder-centered design
makes the main mass of LARM clutched arm concentrated on the arm xed frame,
and the limb part can be lightweight.
In the scheme of Fig. 1(a), symbols G
ia,b
(i = 16) and B
ia,b
(i = 1, 2)
represent gears and belt wheels, respectively, W
ia
and W
ib
(i = 1, 2) represent
the worm and the worm wheel, respectively. Electromagnetic clutches named as
C
i
(i = 13) are assembled along rotating axes. By changing the states of clutches,
the gearing system can be activated in 2
3
= 8 modes. The self-locking feature of
worm and worm wheel eliminates the need of braking power. Possible operation
modes (OP) for LARM clutched arm are listed in Table 1, where 0 means that a
clutch is deactivated and 1 a clutch is activated. In particular, OP0 is a stationary
mode, with null energy consumption.
A built prototype of LARM clutched arm is illustrated in Fig. 2. It has
dimensions more or less like a human arm, with 3-kg weight and 2-kg payload
capability.
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PATH PLANNING FOR A 1-DOF CLUTCHED ARM 111
Figure 1 The LARM clutch system in the shoulder design: (a) a scheme; (b) a CAD design.
Table 1 The operation modes for LARM clutched arm (Gu and Ceccarelli, 2010a)
Operation mode OP0 OP1 OP2 OP3 OP4 OP5 OP6 OP7
Active rotations None R
1
R
2
R
3
R
1
& R
2
R
1
& R
3
R
2
& R
3
R
1
R
3
C
1
0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1
C
2
0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1
C
3
0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1
A proposed controller for LARM clutched arm consists of a servo amplier
for DC motor, a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) for electromagnetic
clutches, and a National Instruments (NI) Peripheral Component Interconnect
(PCI) board for communications. The whole system (except PC) requires only a
common 24V DC power supply, which can be an advantage for applying it on
Figure 2 A prototype of LARM clutched arm (Gu and Ceccarelli, 2010a): (a) the overall structure
with the control system; (b) the clutch system in the shoulder.
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112 GU AND CECCARELLI
mobile robots with a commercial battery. A Graphic User Interface (GUI) has been
programmed with LabVIEW, which can control and monitor the arms motion
through suitable virtual instruments.
Summarizing, LARM clutched arm has the following novel characteristics:
- lightweight limb design, with low-cost, low energy consumption, and easy
operation;
- 1-DOF clutched solution with motion capability in a 3D space;
- avoiding overheat of motor, since the motor works only for actuating the arm and
self-locking mechanisms ensure the arm to maintain its posture once the arm is
stationary.
OPERATION CHARACTERISTICS OF LARM CLUTCHED ARM
Operation modes OP1OP7 can be expressed as vectors in the joint space
and combined modes like OP4, OP5, OP6, and OP7 have a constant slope that is
determined by the reduction ratios in the mechanical design. Thus, it is convenient
to search the optimal path in the joint space.
In Fig. 3(a), a typical prescribed task can be given by the start and end points
with several path possibilities given by OP vectors in joint space. For example, the
dashed line in Fig. 3(a) indicates a path that is composed of two segments (SG1

,
SG2

) by means of OP3 and OP2, respectively. Another path is indicated by a solid

line, which has three segments (SG1SG3) with OP2, OP6, and OP3, respectively.
A path segment SGi (i = 1N) contains two kind of information, namely, a
discrete one for the selected operation mode (OP) and a continuous one for the
motor displacement (D). Therefore, a path can be characterized by a sequence of
segments with data for OP and D. For example, the segment sequence in Fig. 3(a)
is given as OP2, OP6, and OP3 with D1, D2, and D3, respectively, and can be used
as a command sequence for the path planner in the controller.
Figure 3 An example of the operation for LARM clutched arm: (a) path possibilities in joint space;
(b) a controlled path generation with the proposed strategy.
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PATH PLANNING FOR A 1-DOF CLUTCHED ARM 113
Figure 3(b) illustrates the proposed control strategy to coordinate the motor
and operation mode for the solid path in Fig. 3(a). The motor is controlled with
a smooth speed to output a desired angular displacement for each segment (SG1
SG3) while clutches only change their states when the motor stops. The transient
dynamics caused by clutch actions can be strongly limited and even avoided with
suitable delay time (t
S
) for motor activation, as indicated in Fig. 3(b). For the
prototype, a t
S
delay of 80msec has been experienced as suitable enough.
Thus, an optimal path-planning task is to seek a proper sequence of segments
with certain operation modes and motor displacements as variables of the path-
planning problem.
For traditional robotic arms, the actuator for each DOF is independent and
in a point-to-point optimal path planning, the main effort is to optimize the motion
of each actuator (Ceccarelli, 2004). For the LARM clutched arm with 1-DOF, the
single actuator is shared by three joints, which are dependent to each other when
they are activated simultaneously. The optimal path planning for LARM clutched
arm concentrates on a proper sequence of OP. The single actuator only serves
the robotic arm to implement the selected OP actions with suitable cooperation to
clutches.
In the block diagram of Fig. 4, the optimal path planning for LARM clutched
arm depends of the three variables OP, D, and N, and outputs command sequences
of OP and D. The controller can interpret such command sequences into control
signals for motor and clutches with a proposed control strategy as in the example
in Fig. 3(b). With a feedback of speed, the motor is controlled to track the desired
smooth motion with a proper PID law.
A cubic function can be chosen for the desired motor speed, in order to
achieve smooth and differentiable features. The motor displacement command in
kth segment is D
k
. A symmetrical speed up and down motion lasts for t
k
with a
speed peak of P
k
. Since the area enveloped by the speed curve is the displacement,
Figure 4 A schematic diagram for the control of LARM clutched arm.
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114 GU AND CECCARELLI
D
k
, t
k
, and P
k
are linked by the relationship
D
k
=
t
k
2
P
k
. (1)
The mean acceleration (o
M
) for speeding up to P
k
can be given by the
expression
P
k
=
t
k
2
tg: =
t
k
2
o
M
. (2)
If the value of o
M
is given, substituting Equation (2) into Equation (1), t
k
can
be obtained as
t
k
= 2

D
k
,o
M
. (3)
Thus, P
k
can be xed by substituting Equation (3) into Equation (2).
Consequently, P
k
and t
k
can be expressed as monadic functions of D
k
. For the
prototype, an o
M
of 2000 deg/sec
2
has been experienced as a suitable value.
In addition, the motor has a limited speed with P
max
, and a large D
k
may cause
P
k
to exceed P
max
. In this case, P
k
and t
k
should be recomputed with the conditions
P
k
= P
max
,
(4)
t
k
=
2D
k
P
k
.
Once P
k
and t
k
are determined, the cubic speed can be formulated by
identifying coefcients in

0
motor
=

l
2
t
2
+ l
3
t
3
, t |0, t
k
,2]
P
k
l
2
(t t
k
,2)
2
l
3
(t t
k
,2)
3
, t |t
k
,2, t
k
],
(5)
with l
2
= 12P
k
,t
2
k
and l
3
= 16P
k
,t
3
k
.
Considering the delay t
S
, the motion period T
k
for kth segment is expressed as
T
k
= t
S
+ t
k
. (6)
Equations (1)(6) summarize the motion generation process for the motor,
which is executed by the controller when it reads a command D
k
in kth segment.
A FORMULATION FOR OPTIMAL PATH PLANNING
An operation with low energy consumption and smooth behavior can be
obtained by using basic criteria for an optimal path planning.
Time is an important issue when a robot serves a human although the
action of anthropomorphic robotic arm is not expected to be as fast as industrial
manipulators. Although the mechanical design of LARM clutched arm gifts energy
saving features, how to use the single motor and clutches properly and efciently
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PATH PLANNING FOR A 1-DOF CLUTCHED ARM 115
is still a question for low energy consumption. Accelerations of the end effector
can directly indicate the motion characteristics. For friendly and safe purposes, the
acceleration o
H
should be minimized during a task of LARM clutched arm.
Thus, an optimal path planning of LARM clutched arm can be formulated
as a multiobjective optimization problem with traveling time T
tra
, consumed energy
E
con
, and maximum acceleration o
H
of the end effector in the form
min ] = ]

T
tra
T
ref
,
E
con
E
ref
,
o
H
o
ref

, (7)
subject to
0
1
|0
1 min
, 0
1 max
],
0
2
|0
2 min
, 0
2 max
],
(8)
0
E
|0
E min
, 0
E max
],

0
motor
|P
max
, P
max
],
where T
ref
, E
ref
, and o
ref
are reference values and 0
1
0
3
are the joint angles with
0
E
= 0
3
0
2
as the elbow angle.
By using weighting sum strategy (The Math Works, 1992), the multiobjective
problem in Equation (7) can be converted into a scalar one in the form
min ] = n
1
T
tra
T
ref
+ n
2
E
con
E
ref
+ n
3
o
H
o
ref
, (9)
in which n
1
n
3
are weighting factors with condition 0 n
i
1 (i = 13) and n
1
+
n
2
+ n
3
= 1.
Since the three criteria in Equation (9) can be competitive to each other, a
weighting factor of the most emphasized criterion can be conveniently considered
as for major effect.
For a path with N segments, the traveling time can be computed as sum of
time segments with Equation (6). The consumed energy E
con
can be computed by
summing the work of the motor (W
motor
) and the work of electromagnetic clutches
(W
clutch
). W
motor
can be computed as
W
motor
=
N

k=1

T
k
0
t
motor

0
motor
dt

, (10)
where t
motor
is the actuating motor torque. Since the power of the selected
electromagnetic clutch in the prototype is given as Pn
clutch
= 7.2 W, W
clutch
can be
computed as
W
clutch
=
N

k=1
(n
OP
T
k
Pn
clutch
), (11)
in which n
OP
is the number of activated clutches depending on the OP mode.
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116 GU AND CECCARELLI
Figure 5 A kinematic model of the LARM clutched arm (Gu and Ceccarelli, 2010a).
Acceleration o
H
can be computed by referring to Cartesian Space coordinates
(x, ,, z) in the form
o
H
= Max(

x
2
+ ,
2
+ z
2
). (12)
Since the LARM clutched arm can achieve any point-to-point task (within its
workspace) with OP1, OP2, and OP3 sequentially, a reference operation mode can
be dened with utmost those three segments to compute T
ref
, E
ref
, and o
ref
.
The computation of W
motor
and o
H
requires evaluation of the arms kinematics
and dynamics. LARM clutched arm can be considered as a two-link planar
manipulator rotating around the Y-axis with dimensions L
1
, L
2
, and L
3
(L
0
is
shoulder size in a trunk body; Fig. 5). The rotating plane for upper arm and forearm
is dened as S-plane with coordinate X
s
Y
s
. The Forward Kinematic Problem (FKP)
and Inverse Kinematic Problem (IKP) of LARM clutched arm can be expressed by
using the model in Fig. 5.
The dynamics of a model with concentrated link masses can be computed to
give the motor torque t
motor
as
t
motor
= C
1
t
1
,K
1
+ C
2
t
2
,K
2
+ C
3
t
3
,K
3
+ t
]
, (13)
in which K
1
, K
2
, and K
3
are reduction ratios for three gear trains; C
i
(i = 13)
indicates the clutch state that equals to 1 or 0; t
i
(i = 13) is the output torque
for each joint. It means that when clutch C
i
is deactivated, the link output torque t
i
do not require motor torque, since the self-locking mechanism ensures the braking
action. t
]
is a torque considering friction and other secondary effects that are
generated in the gear trains. Since it is difcult to formulate accurately a t
]
as in
practical case, it has been convenient to identify t
]
approximately via tests on the
prototype, in which t
]
considers all the dissipative effects as computed by comparing
a numerical result with an experimental test. With a payload of 0.25kg on the arm
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PATH PLANNING FOR A 1-DOF CLUTCHED ARM 117
extremity, t
]
has been measured from 0.167Nm up to 0.271Nm as depending on
the operation mode, with the maximum value when all gear trains are activated.
A NUMERICAL PROCEDURE FOR OPTIMAL PATH PLANNING
Since path generation for LARM clutched arm with OP vectors can be
considered as a 3D robot navigation procedure in joint space, widely used Articial
Intelligence (AI) methods in the optimal path planning can be also properly applied.
Among many approaches in AI area, A* (A star) is one of the most common
and well-known heuristic graph-searching algorithm (Nilsson, 1982). In order to
use A*, a node structure can be dened with information on path-planning
characteristics that are related to ] objective function in Equation (9). Parameter
h is the predict estimate to reach the goal end point, which provides the heuristic
information for the A* search (Nilsson, 1982), as the distance left to the goal with
the expression
h =

(0
1
0
1end
)
2
+ (0
2
0
2end
)
2
+ (0
3
0
3end
)
2

(0
1start
0
1end
)
2
+ (0
2start
0
2end
)
2
+ (0
3start
0
3end
)
2
, (14)
in which (0
1start
, 0
2start
, 0
3start
) and (0
1end
, 0
2end
, 0
3end
) are joint coordinates for start
point and end point, respectively. The cost for a node is a sum of ] and h. A node
with minimal cost will be selected rstly in the path search.
Figure 6(a) illustrates a node expanding process with OPs, where a father node
is a current selected node while son nodes are those expanded from the father node.
The depth information of a node increases by 1, which can indicate the order of
generation for the node. In Fig. 6(b), a more visual scheme for node expansion is
indicated in joint space, where black circles are for father nodes, and white circles
are for son nodes.
One important issue is that each node will remember its father node and
pointers of the son nodes will point to the data address of their father node. In such
a way, once a node is on the goal, the optimal path can be obtained by tracking
back with pointers.
Figure 6 A scheme for node expansion: (a) in the node tree; (b) in the joint space.
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118 GU AND CECCARELLI
When a motion step of motor (A0
motor
) is given, the joint coordinates of the
new expanded nodes can be updated with expressions as
0
i
= 0
i
+ C
i
sign (OP) A0,K
i
, (i = 1, . . . , 3) (15)
where OP can be either positive or negative for forward or backward movement.
NUMERICAL EXAMPLE AND TEST RESULTS
A numerical example is reported as referring to the case with weighting factors
for T
tra
, E
con
, and o
H
with decreasing values n
1
= 0.6, n
2
= 0.3, and n
3
= 0.1,
respectively. A start point in joint space is given as (90

, 90

, 0

), while an end
point is given as (130

, 60

, 40

). A0
motor
is given at 100

. Joints ranges are set

within the arm workspace.
The reference operation with the sequence OP1, OP2, and OP3 is used to
compute T
tra
, E
con
, and o
H
as T
ref
, E
ref
, and o
ref
for the optimal solution. Results for
the optimal path that is obtained with the sequence OP3, OP4, OP1 are reported
in Figs. 79.
The computed traveling time with 5.63sec is shorter than in the reference
operation with 7.24sec; the corresponding values for D1, D2, and D3 are 3000

,
2300

, and 200

; the energy consumption is 73.30J and acceleration is 0.28 (m/sec

2
)
much smaller than in the reference operation. The cost function converges to a value
of 0.90 from the initial value of 1.00 after only 172 iterations. Initial values of ] and
h are 0 and 1, respectively, since in the start point T
tra
, E
con
, and o
H
are zeros while
the predicted estimate to the end point is full. When the robotic arm reaches the end
point, ] and h converges to 0.89, and 0.01, respectively. With an average consuming
power at about 13W (E
con
,T
tra
) and a maximum end-effector acceleration at no
Figure 7 Computed optimal path: (a) in joint space; (b) in Cartesian space (solid line is for optimal
path and dashed line is for reference path).
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PATH PLANNING FOR A 1-DOF CLUTCHED ARM 119
Figure 8 Experimental result of time evolution for motor speed and torque in the optimal operation
(solid line is for optimal operation and dashed line is for reference operation).
more than 0.3 m/sec
2
, the optimal operation can still be considered as energy saving
and gentle behaved.
Experimental tests have been carried out on the prototype with the optimal
path operation whose results are reported in Figs. 8 and 9. Due to the self-
locking gearing systems, the motor torque returns to zero when the operation
task nishes. In Fig. 9, test results of the consumed energy for optimal and
reference operation give 75.13 and 68.73J, respectively. They are close to the
numerical results. In addition, E
con
in the test for the optimal operation increases
with respect to the reference operation, as happened in the numerical case too. In
order to have a further comparison, numerical time evolution of E
con
for optimal
operation has been added in Fig. 9 as a dot-dashed line. It can be observed that
Figure 9 Experimental result of time evolution for energy consumption in the optimal operation (solid
line is for optimal operation, dashed line is for reference operation, and dot-dashed line is for optimal
operation in numerical computation).
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120 GU AND CECCARELLI
test result ts the numerical one with a similar trend shape. Due to the backlash
and insufcient stiffness effects in the rst prototype of LARM clutched arm,
end-effector accelerations in the test are not exactly the same as the numerical ones.
CONCLUSIONS
A novel clutched robotic arm with only one motor has been described
as suitable for anthropomorphic operations. A multiobjective formulation has
been proposed for path planning with a comprehensive consideration of traveling
time, energy consumption, and end-effector behavior. A numerical procedure has
been presented by using an AI algorithm with computationally efcient features.
Numerical examples and test results have shown the engineering feasibility of the
proposed procedure of optimal path planning for 1-DOF LARM clutched arm with
fast movement, low energy consumption, and gentle behaviors.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The rst author would like to acknowledge China Scholarship Council (CSC)
for supporting his PhD study and research at LARM in the University of Cassino,
Italy, for the years 20082010.
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