A Global Approach for Dexterous Manipulation Planning Using Paths in n-fingers Grasp Subspace

This paper addresses the motion planning problem of the dexterous manipulation of 3D rigid objects by a robotic multi-fingered hand. We propose a novel approach based on probabilistic roadmap techniques. Inspired by the theory developed by Alami et al. (1994), Simeon et al. (2003), the planner relies on a topological property that characterizes the existence of solutions in GS_n, a specific manifold of the configuration space. This property leads to reduce the problem by structuring the search-space. It allows us to design a manipulation planner that directly captures in a probabilistic roadmap the connectivity of sub-dimensional manifolds of the composite configuration space. The proposed method allows a global planning - both object and fingers trajectories are computed - that can cope with the obstacle presence in the environment. Collisions between different fingers or between object and fingers elsewhere than fingertips are avoided. Force closure constraints are taken into account to ensure the computed paths physical feasibility, under quasi-static motion assumption. First experiments demonstrate the feasibility and the efficiency of the approach