Optimization of unilaterally constrained telerobots

Mobile telerobots, that are not rigidly fixed but unilaterally constrained to the environment, operate under the risk of losing their defined position, starting to slip away or to turn over. It is the objective to minimize this risk by finding an optimal geometrical configuration and position of the mobile telerobot, so that a given task is performed properly, under regard of some mechanical constraints. These constraints, the mechanical model as well as the objective functions and the boundary conditions for the optimization problem are discussed in this paper. In this connection the points of contact with the environment are modelled as unilateral constraints, making a clear difference to the optimization of common robots, that are rigidly fixed to the environment by bilateral constraints.