Clothoid as a Transition Curve of the Manipulator End-effector Trajectory for Harvesting Tomatoes in a Greenhouse

Abstract

The article presents the way of using the clothoid as a transition curve when planning the trajectory of the tomato manipulator end-effector during harvesting in a greenhouse. Three variants of end-effector motion trajectory were planned. The first path consists of two rectilinear segments connected by a circular arc. The second path is composed of a rectilinear segment – clothoid – circular arc – clothoid and a rectilinear segment. The third option consists of two rectilinear segments connected by a biclothoid. For the analysed variants of the manipulator gripper trajectories, the motion parameters were determined and compared, and the results were presented in the graphical form. The algorithm with the use of clothoid, proposed in the paper, ensures the continuity of the displacement, velocity and acceleration for the planned trajectory of the end-effector. This is particularly important for the dynamics of the manipulator arm movement.