Trajectory optimization of multibody systems with contacts

Silvia Manara

University of Pisa, Italy

Tuesday, July 05, 2016, 11:00

Room 01-012, Georges-Köhler-Allee 102, Freiburg 79110, Germany

PDF-Slides

The analysis of multibody systems (MBS) interacting with the surrounding environment through intermittent contacts gives rise to non-trivial issues, mainly caused by the discontinuities due to friction and impulsive dynamics. However, in contexts such as robotic manipulation and locomotion, interactions between the system and parts of the environment through unilateral contact forces are essential in order to accomplish a given task.

In this talk, different ways of modeling the highly nonlinear dynamics of MBS are addressed, as well as different ways of dealing with the discontinuous contact phenomenon.
Finally, some preliminary results regarding the application of direct optimization methods to the trajectory planning of such systems are presented.