A coordinated motion planning method for mobile manipulators in door opening tasks

Purpose This paper aims to introduce a coordinated motion planning method for the mobile base and manipulator of a mobile manipulator for the door opening task. This method ensures the end effector dexterity during the operation and enables successful door opening. Design/methodology/approach Under the task constraint of the door opening operation, velocity directional manipulability is introduced to dynamically evaluate and optimize the pose of the mobile manipulator. Meanwhile, considering that the manipulator’s operational accuracy is significantly higher than the mobile base, the critical motion phases of each component are determined. Furthermore, the passive compliance provided by the end effector’s flexible state gripper provides redundancy to compensate for motion errors, ensuring operational safety during coordinated motion. Findings Simulation and experimental results show that this method is feasible for the door opening task of the mobile manipulator, and that coordinated motion between the mobile base and manipulator can be achieved. Originality/value This paper proposes a coordinated motion planning method for mobile manipulators to achieve safe door opening operations. By integrating velocity directional manipulability and leveraging the operational precision differences between components, the method constrains the robot’s motion. Additionally, a flexible state gripper is employed to provide redundancy for motion errors.