Control by position sensors for a hyper-redundant robot

Abstract

The paper treats the control problem for a class of hyper-redundant robots characterized by elastic backbone. The dynamic model of this system is analyzed. A measuring system based on curvature film sensors is proposed and an optical placement technique of sensors is discussed. A control algorithm is introduced by using the concept of boundary geometric control and a weighted state control method. Numerical simulations and experimental results illustrate the presented methods.