Brief Project Description
Modeling a robot’s workspace is essential for optimizing mechanical design, robot placement, and automated motion planning. However, fully characterizing this volume is challenging: the robot’s capabilities depend on a complex combination of position, orientation (pose), and mechanical limits that cannot be captured through simple closed-form mathematical equations.
Capability maps address this by discretizing the workspace into a structured grid, mapping how performance metrics vary throughout the operating volume. Currently, capability maps focus solely on kinematics, showing where the robot’s tool tip can reach and how easily it can move. However, they lack critical physical constraints: they do not indicate how fast the tool can move, how much payload it can support, or what contact forces and torques (wrenches) it can exert. Furthermore, existing maps neglect structural deflection (stiffness), making it impossible to predict where the robot will deform under load and deviate from a target trajectory.
This thesis project aims to expand classical capability maps beyond pure geometry by modeling and integrating considerations about dynamics and structural compliance . The resulting framework will allow engineers to identify the optimal working regions for high-load and high-precision tasks.
Note: The primary focus will be on integrating force and torque limits (wrench capability); modeling structural stiffness and deflection can be treated as an advanced extension depending on the available time.
This thesis is conducted in collaboration with: IMA-UNIBO DIGIMECH
