Patent ID: 8401699

Claim:
A manipulator, comprising: a main unit movable to a specified target position; an arm unit rotatably provided on the main unit; and a posture controller for controlling the posture of the arm unit so that a front surface of the arm unit facing forward in a moving direction of the main unit is not orthogonal to the moving direction of the main unit when the movement of the main unit is performed; and an obstacle detector for detecting a relative velocity vector of the main unit and an obstacle, wherein the posture controller controls the posture of the arm unit based on a detection result of the obstacle detector; wherein a side surface of the arm unit includes a flat portion; and wherein the posture controller controls the posture of the arm unit such that the flat portion faces forward in the moving direction and the inclination thereof with respect to the direction of the relative velocity vector increases as the magnitude of the relative velocity vector increases.