The optimal path planning of cooperative manipulators is studied in the present research. Optimal Control Theory is employed to calculate the optimal path of each joint choosing an appropriate index of the system to be minimized and taking the kinematics equations as the constraints. The formulation has been derived using Pontryagin Minimum Principle and results in a Two Point Boundary Value Problem, (TPBVP). The problem is solved for a cooperative manipulator system consisting of two 3-DOF serial robots.

Keywords: Redundant cooperative manipulators; Path planning; Optimal control; Two point boundary Value problem

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