Simulations of dexterous manipulation for multifingered systems

Combined grasping and manipulation by multifingered hands was studied. A method of force allocation by optimizing the friction angles at finger contacts was combined with the computed torque method to find the torques to be commanded at finger joints for multifingered systems. In this way, the chance of slip can be minimized when the object is grasped or manipulated. A rolling motion between the grasped object and the fingertips was studied in simulation. A history-based method was proposed to improve the smoothness of the input torque commands, and force feedback was used to compensate for the uncertainty of the system. Any finger which moved beyond the boundaries of its working volume was also moved to a new position for regrasping. The proposed method can be efficiently used to find the necessary actuator torques, and is applicable for real-time application. Three dimensional simulation results are given in this paper