Multi-fingered grasping experiments using real-time grasping force optimization

A common approach to control multi-fingered grippers during stable grasping is the stiffness control scheme. 'Internal' stiffness parameters and suitable references for internal grasping forces-often determined heuristically-ensure a stable grasp. In this paper, optimal internal forces are obtained in real-time by linearly constrained gradient flows on the smooth manifold of positive definite matrices. This optimization approach is a generic one for any number of fingers in contact with the object. Experiments with the 3-fingered Darmstadt hand show the simplicity and efficiency of the approach.