Novel, Compliant, Synergistic Interactions of Multiple Contacts for Grasping

Dhiraj Nahar, Thomas Sugar, Paul Fussell Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Arizona State University Tempe, AZ-85281 Abstract: In this paper, we are solving two inverse design problems. We first determine the desired Cartesian stiffness matrix for each contact in a multi-contact grasp by solving an optimization problem. Secondly given the desired stiffness matrix, K, for each contact, we design a material to behave accordingly. The orientation for the material links, and the appropriate stiffness values for each link must be determined. We solve for the link stiffness values and for the link angles by setting up a robotics problem based on a similarity transformation using the well-known Jacobian. The joint angles in the Jacobian determine the link orientation, and the stiffness values determine the link parameters. We are also able to solve for redundant elements necessary to develop symmetric materials.