Non-holonomic path planning of a free-floating space robotic system using genetic algorithms

In this paper, the non-holonomic characteristic of a free-floating space robotic system is used to plan the path of the manipulator joints, by whose motion the base attitude and the manipulator joints attain the desired states. Here, we parameterize the joint trajectory using sinusoidal functions, whose arguments are high-order polynomials. Then, we define the cost function for optimization according to the constraint conditions and the accuracy of the space robot. Finally, genetic algorithms (GAs) are used to search for the solutions of the parameters. Compared with others, our approach has advantages as follows. (i) The motion of the manipulator and the disturbance on the base are practically constrained. (ii) The dynamic singularities cannot affect the algorithm since only the direct kinematic equations are utilized. (iii) The planned path is smooth and more applicable for the control of the manipulator. (iv) The convergence of the algorithm is not affected by the attitude singularity since the orientation error is represented by quaternion, which is globally singularity-free. The simulation results of the spacecraft with a 6-d.o.f. manipulator verify the performance and the validity of the proposed method.