Method and system for determining a sequence of kinematic chains of a multiple robot

A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with executable instructions which, when executed, cause one or more data processing systems to:

• a) receive inputs on a sequence of locations to be reached by a tool mounted on a kinematic chain of a multiple robot;
• b) consider each kinematic chain separately by setting one kinematic chain in use and determining, for each kinematic chain in use, a plurality of available configurations for each location of the sequence;
• c) represent the available configurations thus determined as nodes connectable by directional connectors of a graph representing a plurality of available robotic paths for reaching with one of the tools the locations of the location sequence, wherein switching among different kinematic chains within the same robotic path is allowed;
• d) determine a plurality of valid directional connectors connecting subsequent available configurations by simulating collision-free trajectories of the robot between consecutive configurations while taking into account a set of working modality constraints of the location sequence;
• e) assign to each valid directional connector a weight factor representing an effort required by the robot in moving between the two subsequent configurations represented by the two consecutive nodes connected by the directional connector;
• f) determine, out of a plurality of valid robotic paths along valid directional connectors, a shortest robotic path by taking into account the weight factors of the directional connectors;
• and
• g) determine the sequence of kinematic chains of the shortest path thus determined.

A data processing system, comprising:

• a processor and an accessible memory, and wherein the data processing system is configured to:
• a) receive inputs on sequence of locations to be reached by a tool mounted on a kinematic chain of a multiple robot;
• b) consider each kinematic chain separately by setting one kinematic chain in use and determining, for each kinematic chain in use, a plurality of available configurations for each location of the sequence;
• c) represent the determined available configurations as nodes connectable by directional connectors of a graph representing a plurality of available robotic paths for reaching with one of the tools the locations of the location sequence, wherein the switching among different kinematic chains within the same robotic path is allowed;
• d) determine a plurality of valid directional connectors connecting subsequent available configurations by simulating collision free trajectories of the robot between consecutive configurations while taking into account a set of working modality constraints of the location sequence;
• e) assign to each valid directional connector a weight factor representing an effort required by the robot in moving between the two subsequent configurations represented by the two consecutive nodes connected by the directional connector;
• f) determine, out of a plurality of valid robotic paths along valid directional connectors, the shortest robotic path by taking into account the weight factors of the directional connectors;
• and
• g) determine the sequence of kinematic chains of the shortest robotic path.