Dynamic quality aware path planning for 6 DoF robotic arms using BiRRT and metaheuristic optimization based on B spline paths

Industrial robotic arms utilized in contemporary industrial and collaborative environments must operate within increasingly congested and dynamically restricted workspaces while adhering to rigorous standards of safety, precision, and motion quality. This paper presents a two-stage framework for path planning and optimization of a 6-DOF industrial robotic arm navigating amid randomly distributed obstacles. A collision-free reference motion is initially created by integrating B-spline geometric interpolation with a bidirectional RRT-Connect planner, augmented by short-cutting and effective joint-space collision verification for a KUKA KR 4 R600 manipulator. The baseline trajectory is subsequently enhanced through two metaheuristic optimizers: a Whale Genetic hybrid algorithm (WGA) and the Grey Wolf Optimizer (GWO). These optimizers minimize a composite objective that incorporates end-effector trajectory length, joint-level energy consumption based on established motor characteristics, and trajectory smoothness measured by joint jerk. Simulation results indicate that, while the raw Bi-RRT trajectory is geometrically efficient and energy-efficient, it demonstrates excessively high jerk. The suggested enhancements based on WGA and GWO diminish the jerk index of the original Bi-RRT solution by roughly 94-96%, resulting in relatively slight increases in trajectory length and energy, while producing dynamically smooth, collision-free trajectories that adhere to all kinematic constraints. This work presents a comprehensive, implementation-ready methodology that compares sampling-based planning, and multi-objective metaheuristic optimization to produce executable, energy-efficient, and jerk-minimized motions for industrial manipulators in intricate environments.