The development of a six degree-of-constraint robot performance evaluation test

A remote manipulator performance evaluation test was developed to test certain tool mating configurations not possible with the standard peg-in-hole type of test. The test attempted to evaluate robot manipulator performance over a full range of six degrees of freedom of motion between a tool and its intended receptacle. The test consists primarily of four different tool geometries and three different receptacle geometries which provide for a progressive reduction in the degrees of freedom of motion, and a progressive increase in the degrees of constraint (DOC) over motion, between the tool and the receptacle. The manipulation times of actual tools and couplings would be predicted by the times for the test tool most like it geometrically. In addition, the influence of four different transmission delays was tested. The results indicate that tool manipulation time can vary by a factor of about four depending on the degrees of constraint over final tool positioning.