Joint torque optimization of redundant manipulators via the null space damping method

A null space damping method is proposed which solves the stability problem commonly encountered in existing local joint torque optimization techniques applied to redundant manipulators. The damped joint motion is quite stable and globally outperforms undamped techniques in the sense of torque minimization capability. In addition, simulation results show that the resulting damped joint motion becomes conservative after an initial transient stage for cyclic end-effector trajectories, while undamped pseudo-inverse solutions are reported to never lead to conservative motion. Three undamped and damped joint torque optimization algorithms are considered and discussed with comparison to the previous literature. The effectiveness of the proposed null space damping method is demonstrated by computer simulation