Mapping Tasks into Fault Tolerant Manipulators
Abstract: The application of robots in critical missions in
hazardous environments requires the development of reliable or fault
tolerant manipulators. In this paper, we define fault tolerance as the
ability to continue the performance of a task after immobilization of a
joint due to failure. Initially, no joint limits are considered, in which
case we prove the existence of fault tolerant manipulators and develop an
analysis tool to determine the fault tolerant work space. We also derive
design templates for spatial fault tolerant manipulators. When joint limits
are introduced, analytic solutions become infeasible but instead a numerical
design procedure can be used, as is illustrated through an example.
Proceedings of the 1994 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and
Automation, Vol. 1, pp. 696-703, San Diego, CA, May 9-13, 1994.
(Finalist for the Anton Philips Best Student Paper Award).
paredis@cmu.edu