A robot arm apparatus comprising: an imaging unit; an arm unit made up of a plurality of links joined to each other by one or a plurality of a joint units, the arm unit being connected to the imaging unit via a joint unit connecting the imaging unit to a link of the arm unit; and a drive control unit that controls driving of the arm unit by causing each joint unit to be driven cooperatively, wherein the driving control unit controls driving of the joint units based on a control value for cooperative control of the arm unit, the control value being based on a state of the arm unit acquired based on a plurality of states of the joint units including the rotational angle and at least one of the rotational angular velocity, rotational angular acceleration or generated torque value of each joint unit; and wherein the drive control unit uses relative position information of a reference position with respect to the arm unit, the relative position information being based on the state of the arm unit including the rotational angle and at least one of the rotational angular velocity, rotational angular acceleration or generated torque value and an arm coordinate system in which motion of the arm is managed and distance information about a distance between the joint unit connecting the imaging unit to the link of the arm unit and the reference position, to control the driving of the arm unit in a manner that the reference position is positioned on an optical axis of the imaging unit, the distance between the joint unit connecting the imaging unit to the link of the arm unit and the reference position being a sum of a length of the imaging unit and a focal distance (f) of the imaging unit. an imaging unit; an arm unit made up of a plurality of links joined to each other by one or a plurality of a joint units, the arm unit being connected to the imaging unit via a joint unit connecting the imaging unit to a link of the arm unit; and a drive control unit that controls driving of the arm unit by causing each joint unit to be driven cooperatively, wherein the driving control unit controls driving of the joint units based on a control value for cooperative control of the arm unit, the control value being based on a state of the arm unit acquired based on a plurality of states of the joint units including the rotational angle and at least one of the rotational angular velocity, rotational angular acceleration or generated torque value of each joint unit; and wherein the drive control unit uses relative position information of a reference position with respect to the arm unit, the relative position information being based on the state of the arm unit including the rotational angle and at least one of the rotational angular velocity, rotational angular acceleration or generated torque value and an arm coordinate system in which motion of the arm is managed and distance information about a distance between the joint unit connecting the imaging unit to the link of the arm unit and the reference position, to control the driving of the arm unit in a manner that the reference position is positioned on an optical axis of the imaging unit, the distance between the joint unit connecting the imaging unit to the link of the arm unit and the reference position being a sum of a length of the imaging unit and a focal distance (f) of the imaging unit.