Inverse Kinematics of Binary Manipulators Using a Continuum Model

Binary actuators have only two discrete states, both of which are stable without feedback. As a result, manipulators with binary actuators have a finite number of states. The major benefits of binary actuation are that extensive feedback control is not required, reliability and task repeatability are very high, and two-state actuators are generally very inexpensive, resulting in low cost robotic mechanisms. These manipulators have great potential for use in both the manufacturing and service sectors, where the cost of high performance robotic manipulators is often difficult to justify. The most difficult challenge with a binary manipulator is to achieve relatively continuous end-effector trajectories given the discrete nature of binary actuation. Since the number of configurations attainable by binary manipulators grows exponentially in the number of actuated degrees of freedom, calculation of inverse kinematics by direct enumeration of joint states and calculation of forward kinematics is not feasible in the highly actuated case. This paper presents an efficient method for performing binary manipulator inverse kinematics and trajectory planning based on having the binary manipulator shape adhere closely to a time-varying curve. In this way the configuration of the arm does not exhibit drastic changes as the end effector follows a discrete trajectory.