An Application of Robotic Optimization: Design for a Tire Changing Robot

Robotics experiences tremendous evolutions every year. Once a topic mainly approached at research centers, read through highly specialized books and viewed distantly on scientific channels, nowadays it is a common and very approachable subject among undergraduate students of many universities. More and more robots are being designed every day, demanding technological implementation and production. This progress does not come without its glitches, however. A common and increasing problem that appears is the insufficient testing, simulation and optimization steps that a robotic construction need to pass in order to achieve an efficient design. These steps prove to be difficult and sometimes discouraging, resulting in laborious work, due to lack of tools. This paper presents an example of a robotic optimization using a generic software package, applied on a custom manipulator, a tire-changing robot. Although the manipulator has its own simulation and control package, it lacks optimization features and being 1