Abstract
This paper is concerned with a control design method for multi-fingered robot hands, whose degrees of freedom (DOF) are not enough to control all of the components of the object motion and the internal force. In the control design of the multi-fingered robot hands, controllers are usually designed for the variables with respect to the object motion and the internal force, under the assumption that the systems have enough DOF to control all the components of them. However, if we consider the systems with fewer DOF, although the control variables directly linked to the components of the object motion and the internal force will be preferable for the grasping/manipulation tasks, control design methodology to meet such requirements has not been established yet. In this paper, we consider the systems whose DOF are not enough to control all of the components of the object motion and the internal force, and propose a control design method whose control variables are directly linked to the components of the object motion and the internal force. The control variables can be specified as functions of the object motion and the internal force directly, and a linearizing compensator for the variables is derived. A numerical example of a robot hand with interlocking joints is shown to prove effectiveness of the proposed method.
