Classification of grasps by multifingered robot hands

Abstract

This research characterizes grasping by multifingered robot hands through an investigation of the space of contact forces between fingers and the grasped object. By decomposing the space of contact forces into four subspaces, we develop a method to determine the dimensions of the subspaces with respect to the connectivity of the object. The relationship we obtain reveals the differences between three types of grasps classified in the paper and indicates how the contact force can be decomposed corresponding to each type of grasp. Therefore, it provides a guideline for formulating the distribution of contact forces as a basis for optimization. The subspaces and the determination of their dimensions are illustrated by examples.