A geometric reasoning system for moving an object while maintaining contact with others

Abstract

This paper concerns the motion of moving a polyhedral object while maintaining contact with a set of stationary polyhedral objects. A method is developed for deriving a sequence of compliant-guarded motions in order to move an object from an initial configuration to a final configuration while it is in contact. This sequence is derived from a sequence of spatial relationships among the features of the objects. The construction of a graph of spatial relationships representing the space where the object is in contact with its environment is described. This is done using a geometric reasoning system which is able to find a relationship equivalent to a conjunction of two relationships and to construct the new features among which the new relationship holds.