High accuracy/Low-energy consumption effects of bracing hyper-redundant manipulator

Hindrances interfering realistic and practical utilization of hyper-redundant manipulator are thought to be the facts that the higher redundant degrees make the weight of the structure heavier, resulting in a conflict between the required high-redundancy for dexterous manipulation and heavy weight stemming from the high redundancy. To overcome this contradicting realities of hyper-redundant manipulator, we discuss a realizability whether the contacting and bracing motion of intermediate links with environment may simultaneously reduce energy-consumption and raise hand's trajectory tracking accuracy, inspired by human's handwriting motion with the elbow or wrist contacting to a table. We first propose a dynamical model of hyper-redundant manipulator whose plural intermediate links are being braced with environment, second how the contacting can save energy and raise trajectory tracking accuracy. The simulation result shows that less-energy consumption and high trajectory tracking accuracy are achieved by conventional PD controller, compared with non-contacting condition.