Fault tolerant properties of kinematically redundant manipulators

A measure of fault tolerances for redundant manipulators is derived based on the remaining dexterity following the loss of degree of freedom. Using this measure as a criterion, a technique for calculating optimal fault tolerant configurations for redundant manipulators is presented. The properties of these configurations are analyzed in order to assist designers in determining the number of degrees of freedom required to maintain a minimum level of dexterity under a worst-case scenario