Solution of the problem of optimal control of a manipulator by direct sampling of the variants of motion

The paper considers the optimal control of an automatic manipulator with motion redundancy, i.e., a manipulator whose motion to its goal can be accomplished an infinite number of ways, distinguished by the character of change of generalized coordinates as a function of time. The introduction of an auxiliary condition characterizing the quality of motion makes it possible to choose - from the set of possible motions - one motion for which the quality characteristic has an extremal value. This condition may be minimal time expenditure or minimal energy consumption.