Measuring Performance: Metrics for Manipulator Design, Control, and Optimization

How good is a robot? Three challenges arise from this question: first, defining performance from the robot’s observable behavior; second, quantifying performance with an index that is obtainable through direct measurement or computation, and representative of the measured quantity; third, ensuring that this procedure is repeatable and general, to enable performance comparison, benchmarking, and an increase of safety and efficiency standards. However, the landscape of performance metrics for industrial manipulators is fragmented, and limited effort is being made toward a unified framework. This survey aimed at collecting, classifying, and analyzing the key works on the topic, with a focus on mechanical performance metrics for industrial robots. Two diverging trends are outlined, with commercial standards adopting a limited set of metrics and academic research encouraging the development of new performance indices. The shortcomings of both approaches are highlighted, providing a perspective on how future research could proceed.