Task-oriented optimal grasping by multifingered robot hands

The problem of optimal grasping of an object by a multifingered robot hand is discussed. Using screw theory and elementary differential geometry, the concept of a grasp is axiomated and its stability characterized. Three quality measures for evaluating a grasp are then proposed. The last quality measure is task-oriented and needs the development of a procedure for modeling tasks as ellipsoids in the wrench space of the object. Numerical computations of these quality measures and the selection of an optimal grasp are addressed in detail. Several examples are given using these quality measures to show that they are consistent with measurements yielded by the authors' experiments on grasping.<>