Dynamic control of 3-D rolling contacts in two-arm manipulation

When two or more arms are used to manipulate a large object, it is necessary to maintain and control contacts between the object and effector(s) on one or more arms. The dynamic control of two arms manipulating a large object with rolling contacts is addressed. In the framework presented, the motion of the object as well as the loci of the contact points on the surface of the effectors and on the object can be directly controlled. The velocity and acceleration equations for three-dimensional rolling contacts are derived in order to obtain a dynamical model of the system. A nonlinear feedback algorithm that decouples and linearizes the system is used to demonstrate the control of rolling motion along each arm and the adaption of grasps to varying loads