Trajectory

How it is used

Used in motion planning, simulation and controller software. Engineers plan, generate, optimize and smooth trajectories. Strictly, a path is only the geometry, while a trajectory adds speed and acceleration; in everyday talk the two words are often mixed.

Example sentences

1. The trajectory planner slows the robot down before the tight corner.

2. In simulation the trajectory passed too close to the fence, so we added a waypoint.

Common collocations

• trajectory planning
• smooth trajectory
• generate a trajectory
• trajectory planner

Related terms

• path planningFinding a route from a start point to a goal that avoids obstacles and meets limits such as the shortest distance, the shortest time or a safe clearance.
• waypointA point the robot passes through on its way to a target, used to shape the path and keep the arm away from obstacles. It is not a position where work is done.
• linear moveA robot motion in which the tool center point travels in a straight line from its current position to the target, at a programmed speed.
• kinematicsThe study of motion without looking at the forces that cause it. In robotics, it describes how the joint angles relate to the position and orientation of the tool.
• inverse kinematicsThe calculation of the joint angles a robot needs so that its tool reaches a given position and orientation. One target can have several solutions, or none at all.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

• trajectory · Astronomy & Space

More terms: Motion and Kinematics

• degrees of freedom
• axis
• work envelope
• tool center point
• coordinate frame
• repeatability
• accuracy
• singularity