Control of UVMSs

A robotic system is kinematically redundant when it possesses more degrees of freedom than those required to execute a given task. A generic manipulation task is usually given in terms of trajectories for the end effector, specially position and orientation. In this sense, an Underwater Vehicle-Manipulator System is always kinematically redundant due to the DOFs provided by the vehicle itself. However, it is not always efficient to use vehicle thrusters to move the manipulator end effector because of the difficulty of controlling the vehicle in hovering. Moreover, due to the different inertia between vehicle and manipulator, movement of the latter is energetically more efficient.