A quasi-static analysis of dextrous manipulation with sliding and rolling contacts

relationships in such a way as to yield a system of equations which describes the velocity and angular velocity of the manipulated object as functions of the robot's joint velocities. The inverse kinematic problem results in a system of equations describing the joint velocities as functions of the object's translational and angular velocities. In both cases it is assumed that the positions of the contact points are known. Also, by robot is meant an articulated mechanical hand affIXed to the distal end of a robotic arm. Abstract Dexterous manipulation refers to the skillful execution of object reorienting and repositioning maneuvers, especially when performed by an articulated mechanical hand. Kinematic analyses of dexterous manipulation are limited by their omission of contact forces. In this paper, Peshkin's minimum power principle [15] for quasi-static systems is used to combine force and kinematic relationships into a nonlinear mathematical program called the forward object motion problem. Given the joint velocities of the robot's hand and arm, the solution of the forward object motion problem predicts not only the velocity of the object (as done by kinematic analyses), but also the contact forces. In kinematic analyses one must guess as to the nature of all contact interactions (i.e. sliding, rolling or separating). The solution of the forward object motion problem definitively determines these interactions and the contact forces as a byproduct of determining the velocity of the manipulated object. 1.1. Rolling Manipulation