Abstract
A distributed control method for hyper-redundant manipulators of shape adaptation to complicated and unknown environment is proposed. A manipulator consists of serially connected joint units. Each unit is modeled as a translational vector, and it controls the length and direction of this vector. The tip of each unit detects an obstacle using its proximity sensors and autonomously moves along the obstacle with a certain distance away from it; thus the manipulator bends, expands and contracts along the shape of environment. The manipulator can move into/out of long and narrow space only by guiding its end-effector. The adaptability of a planar manipulator with directional sensors to round shape is evaluated.
