A New Representation for a Robot Grasping Quality Measure

When an object is held by a multi-fingered hand, the values of the contact forces can be multivalued. An objective function, when used in conjunction with the frictional and geometric constraints of the grasp, can however, give a unique set of finger force values. The selection of the objective function in determining the finger forces is dependent on the type of grasp required, the material properties of the object, and the limitations of the robot fingers. in this paper several optimization functions are studied and their merits highlighted. The paper introduces a graphical representation of the finger force values and the objective functions that enable one to select and compare various grasping configurations. The impending motion of the object at different torque and finger force values are determined by observing the normalized coefficient of friction plots.