Interactive force dynamics of two robotic manipulators grasping a non-rigid object

A model for the interactive forces and torques generated when two manipulators grasp an object is required for effective simulation and control. Constraint equations exist between the two manipulators which describe their positional and orientational relationships as dictated by the object. These equations also describe the dependence between the generalized coordinates. The authors detail a method of simulating the interactive forces in rigid and single joint objects by explicitly using these constraint equations. An algorithm to model the interactive forces when the object contains a single joint with one or more degrees-of-freedom is developed. It is shown that, when dealing with rigid objects, the methods currently in use are equivalent to the more general algorithm discussed