A new theory in stiffness control for dextrous manipulation

Abstract

A new discovery on the stiffness control in robotics, as well as its applications in grasping and dextrous manipulation, is presented. Extended from the conservative congruence transformation (CCT) theory, the new theory accounts for the change in geometry and the non-commutative rotational property of the Cartesian stiffness in grasping and dextrous manipulation using stiffness control when the external force is applied. The theory, with the consideration of rotational effect in SE(3), as developed by using the geometrical method. The method along with an example presented in this paper provides a systematic way of constructing 6/spl times/6 Cartesian stiffness matrices in robotic grasping/manipulation and stiffness control for dextrous manipulation.