Patent ID: 8442678

Claim:
A robotic device comprising: a first link portion; a second link portion that moves relative to the first link portion; a joint between the first link portion and the second link portion, the joint having a movement detecting portion that detects an angle and a position of the second link portion with respect to the first link portion; a first contact load detecting portion that detects a contact load in a contact area of the first link portion; a second contact load detecting portion that detects a contact load in a contact area of the second link portion; and a first link portion control target setting portion that sets a control target for the first link portion, wherein the first link portion control target setting portion sets the control target for the first link portion based on a first detection value of the contact load of the first contact load detecting portion, a second detection value of the contact load of the second contact load detecting portion, and at least one of the angle or the position of the second link portion with respect to the first link portion detected by the movement detecting portion such that a difference between the first detection value of the contact load of the first contact load detecting portion and the second detection value of the contact load of the second contact load detecting portion decreases, the first detection value is constant throughout the contact area of the first link portion, and the second detection value of the contact area of the second link portion is non zero.