# Constraint-based Task Specification and Trajectory Optimization for Sequential Manipulation

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2208.09219 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.09219/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 19 Aug 2022.

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [A Survey of Optimization-based Task and Motion Planning: From Classical To Learning Approaches](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.02817/) (2024)
- [Constrained Stein Variational Trajectory Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.12110/) (2023)

## Abstract (arXiv)

To economically deploy robotic manipulators the programming and execution of robot motions must be swift. To this end, we propose a novel, constraint-based method to intuitively specify sequential manipulation tasks and to compute time-optimal robot motions for such a task specification. Our approach follows the ideas of constraint-based task specification by aiming for a minimal and object-centric task description that is largely independent of the underlying robot kinematics. We transform this task description into a non-linear optimization problem. By solving this problem we obtain a (locally) time-optimal robot motion, not just for a single motion, but for an entire manipulation sequence. We demonstrate the capabilities of our approach in a series of experiments involving five distinct robot models, including a highly redundant mobile manipulator.