Generating Complaint Motion of Objects with an Articulated Hand
Abstract
The flexibility of the robot is the key to its success as a viable aid to production. Flexibility of a robot can be expanded in two directions. The first is to increase the physical generality of the robot such that it can be easily reconfigured to handle a wide variety of tasks. The second direction is to increase the ability of the robot to interact with its environment, such that tasks can still be successfully completed in the presence of uncertainties. The use of articulated hands offers a means for expanding the flexibility of the robot in both directions. Articulated hands are capable of adapting to a wide variety of grasp shapes, hence reducing the need for special tooling. The availability of low mass, high bandwidth joints close to the manipulated object also offers significant improvements in the control of fine motions. This thesis provides a framework for using articulated hands to perform local manipulation of objects. In particular, it addresses the issues in effecting compliant motions of objects in Cartesian space. The Stanford/JPL Hand is used as an example to illustrate a number of concepts. The examples provide an unified methodology for controlling articulated hands grasping with point contacts. We also present a high-level hand programming system based on the methodologies developed in this thesis. Compliant motion of grasped objects and dextrous manipulations can be easily described in the LISP-based hand programming language.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1985
- Accession Number
- ADA196893
Entities
People
- Stephen L. Chiu
Organizations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology