Effective Multifingered Grasp Synthesis

Abstract

This report discusses the issues involved in developing a grasp controller, within the framework of control composition, and introduces control pre-imaging. Pre-imaging is a design technique for augmenting the performance of a baseline controller through the opportune activation of metalevel control actions. Such metalevel control actions are activated whenever the current system state is associated to past unsuccessful patterns of interaction between the existing predictable, stable controller and the environment. The technique is illustrated by the implementation of a grasp controller capable of generating grasp configurations through successive, local refinements, given the position and normal of each contact. Our objective is to demonstrate the value of formally designed control modules to the design and implementation of effective controllers for complex control tasks. 1 This work is supported in part by NSF CDA-8922572, IRI-9116297, IRI-9208920, and CNPq 202107/90.6 C...