A kinestatic analysis of cooperating robot system

In complex robotic systems, the problem of distributing the load wrench between multiple subsystems is often under specified. Examples of such systems include walking machines, multifingered grippers and multiarm manipulators. In each case, the subsystems are actively controlled limbs (legs, fingers or arms) which are in direct contact with a passive object/environment. In this paper, two approaches to obtaining an appropriate distribution of contact wrenches is presented. In the first method, a phenomenological approach leads to a solution in which the norm of the contact wrenches is minimized. In the second approach, the contact interaction between a robot and the passive object is modeled as a compliant contact with a linear generalized force displacement relationship. Analytical expressions for the wrench distribution is derived for different special cases. In each case, a geometric interpretation of the solution is provided using screw system theory.<>