Collision free path planning of cooperative crane manipulators using genetic algorithm

This paper presents a new approach for automated path planning of cooperative crane manipulators using a genetic algorithm (GA). The inverse kinematic problem, i.e., determining the joint angle configuration for the cooperative crane manipulator system in moving the object from pick location to place location, is defined as an optimization problem and solved using GA. For generating the collision-free path, GA with an interference detection algorithm is employed and search is made in the manipulator joint angle space (configuration space). The effectiveness of the proposed approach for automated path planning is demonstrated by comparing the performance of the present approach with the earlier heuristic search proposed by Sivakumar et al. The GA approach finds a near-optimal path with lower path cost and less computational time than earlier heuristic searches.