METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SAVING ENERGY AND REDUCING CYCLE TIME BY USING OPTIMAL ROBOTIC JOINT CONFIGURATIONS

Methods for saving energy and reducing cycle time of a complex operation (158) by using optimal robotic joint configurations (310). A method includes receiving inputs including the complex operation (158), generating a plurality of joint configurations (310) of a simulated robot (210) for each one of a plurality of task locations (250) of the complex operation (158), calculating an edge rating (430) for each of a plurality of robotic movements (275), wherein a robotic movement (275) accounts for movement between joint configurations (310) of consecutive task locations (250), calculating a plurality of candidate ratings (170) for each of a plurality of candidate configuration paths (174), wherein a candidate rating (170) is a summation of edge ratings (430) of robotic movement edges (410) for a candidate configuration path (174), determining an optimal configuration path (440) based the candidate configuration path (174) with an optimal rating (172), wherein the optimal rating (172) is determined by the lowest candidate rating (170), and return the optimal configuration path (440).