Singularity-consistent inverse kinematics of a 6-DOF manipulator with a non-spherical wrist

The singularity-consistent path-planning and motion control approach has so far been successfully tested within a teleoperation environment, but with separate control of the positioning subsystem and the wrist of the slave arm. In this paper, we show that the approach can be applied to a 6-DOF slave arm with a non-spherical wrist. The problems arising from the coupling between position and orientation are handled easily within the null-space/adjoint Jacobian framework of the singularity-consistent approach. The experiments show that the operator is able to approach the shoulder singularity smoothly, to move through it or to perform motions without leaving it