Task/effector system models of dexterity for machine assembly

The author reviews the need for a quantitative measure of dexterity based on task/effector interactions. These are quantified in the human perspective, and machine dexterity is shown to have parallel measures and limitations. An information-based definition of dexterity is shown to provide a quantitative measure between different robotic systems that have varying degrees of dexterity and the interactions between a specific assembly task being performed. Values for the index of difficulty are shown to vary in the work space, and the loci of maximum dexterity which indicate the most favorable task/effector arrangements are determined. The peg-in-hole task is used as an example application of this approach