Semi-Singularity in Stiffness Generation of an Anthropomorphic Robot

This paper analyzes the singularity of an anthropomorphic robot associated with joint and operational stiffness generation from muscle stiffness. The singularity analysis is made simply based on the signs of the actual and the desired coupling joint stiffness. First, the relationships of the muscle stiffness and the actual joint stiffness, and the operational stiffness and the desired joint stiffness are examined. Second, according to the sign restriction on the actual coupling joint stiffness, the operational space is divided into the semi-singular(SS), the regular(R), and the semi-regular(SR) regions. Third, from the sign comparison of tile actual and the desired coupling joint stiffness, the sufficient condition for the semi-singularity in operational stiffness generation is derived. The limitation on the allowable operational stiffness when a task point belongs to SS, R, and SR regions is also discussed. Simulation results are given.