Crippled motion in robots

Abstract

The feasibility of harnessing redundant degrees of freedom in a robotic arm in order to keep it in service, pending repair, after it has lost mobility in one of its joints, is examined. The concept of critical crippling is introduced, and three familiar robots are investigated as case studies. Guidelines on how one might enhance a manipulator's ability to continue operating productively even with a crippled joint are suggested.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>