Actuator-Aware Inverse Kinematics with Joint-Limit Admissibility for Torque-Controlled Redundant Robots
This work is significant for researchers and engineers developing inverse kinematics for torque-controlled redundant robots, as it aims to improve the compatibility between kinematic commands and actuator capabilities, leading to more reliable robot operation.
This paper addresses inverse kinematics for torque-controlled redundant robots, focusing on generating joint-velocity commands that are compatible with downstream torque controllers and joint limits. The proposed method, formulated as a convex quadratic programming problem, resulted in lower limit-pushing commands and improved realized task behavior in experiments on a seven-degree-of-freedom upper-limb exoskeleton.
This paper proposes actuator-aware inverse kinematics for torque-controlled redundant robots under joint-limit constraints. In the considered architecture, the inverse-kinematic output is not merely a purely kinematic joint-velocity command; it is the required joint velocity supplied to a downstream torque-level controller. Therefore, a small commanded task residual may not necessarily improve realized motion. The proposed method formulates a convex quadratic programming problem whose decision variable is the joint-level required velocity. Control barrier function style bounds impose reference-level joint-limit admissibility, while the task equation is handled through a penalized slack variable. Redundancy is resolved using a controller-compatibility objective that accounts for previous-command consistency and actuator torque-capacity weighting. The method is independent of the particular torque-level controller and can serve as an intermediate IK layer between an endpoint trajectory and a redundant robot controller. Experiments on a virtual-decomposition-controlled seven-degree-of-freedom upper-limb exoskeleton compare the method with standard inverse-kinematic baselines and a constrained task-preserving quadratic programming baseline. The results indicate lower limit-pushing commands, bounded admissible required velocities, and improved realized task behavior in the tested trajectory, without modifying the downstream controller.