Abstract: Addressing the time-optimal trajectory planning problem for manipulators, this paper proposes a trajectory optimization method based on an improved golf optimization algorithm. The chaotic mapping and adaptive weight factors were introduced to avoid getting stuck in local optimization. The simulation compare was performed to compare the proposed algorithm with the various different algorithms, the benchmark test functions were used for validating. The results indicated that the proposed algorithm has faster convergence speed and higher optimization accuracy than various different algorithms. The improved golf optimization algorithm was used to simulate the optimal trajectory planning of a 6-DOF manipulator. The proposed algorithm can reduce the trajectory running time from 10 seconds to 6.04 seconds, which suggested that the proposed algorithm can effectively reduce trajectory running time and maintain the stability of the trajectory.