Abstract
A control method that achieves impedance control of redundant degree-of-freedom manipulators is proposed. The technique combines reduced-order impedance control with configuration control to achieve impedance control of the hand and integrable control of the redundancy. The resulting controlled dynamics is shown to present a passive physical equivalent impedance, thus guaranteeing stability in contact with arbitrary passive environment. In addition, it is shown that there are severe restrictions in choosing the desired hand inertia.<>