Multi-objective evolutionary algorithm optimization of robotic manipulators

The design of robotic manipulators considering both the structure and trajectory planning problems is addressed. These problems have been solved using either classical or metaheuristics optimization techniques considering single objectives. This paper proposes a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm to generate the robot structure and required manipulator trajectories. The proposed evolutionary algorithm is organized in a hierarchical form by using three genetic algorithms to optimize the initial, final and intermediate robotic configurations which are executed for each population member of top level multi-objective structure generator. The aim is to minimize the trajectory space ripple, the initial and final binary torques, while optimizing the mechanical structure. Simulations results are presented from solving a structure synthesis problem which considers the optimization of three simultaneous objectives.