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Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Optimal shape and motion planning for dynamic planar manipulation

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

This thesis presents a framework for optimizing both the shape and the motion of a planar rigid end-effector to satisfy a desired manipulation task. We frame this design problem as a nonlinear optimization program, where shape and motion are decision variables represented as splines. The task is represented as a series of constraints, along with a fitness metric, which force the solution to be compatible with the dynamics of frictional hard contact while satisfying the task. We illustrate the approach with the example problem of moving a disk along a desired path or trajectory, and we verify it by applying it to three classical design problems: the rolling brachistochrone, the design of teeth of involute gears, and the pitch curve of rolling cams. We conclude with a case study involving the optimization and real implementation of the shape and motion of a dynamic throwing arm.

Degree

thesis:*
Department dc:contributor.department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering.
Grantor dc:publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Year dc:date.issued
2017

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Taylor, Orion Thomas
Advisor dc:contributor.advisor
  • Alberto Rodriguez.

Subjects

dc:subject × 1

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.
Language dc:language.iso
eng

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Handle dc:identifier.uri
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/111929
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/111929

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
MIT
Base URL
dspace.mit.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Taylor, Orion Thomas. Optimal shape and motion planning for dynamic planar manipulation. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/111929