Definition and force distribution of power grasps

Abstract

This research treats grasping of an object by a multifingered robot hand. By decomposing the space of contact forces exerted between the fingers and the grasped object into subspaces we develop a method to determine the dimensions of the subspaces with respect to the connectivity of the grasped object. This approach provides insight into different grasps based on a classification into three types. A power grasp is defined when the connectivity of the grasped object is equal to or less than zero. The analysis of contact force distribution is simplified for a power grasp with zero connectivity. Examples for dimensional determination are illustrated.