Multifingered robot hands: Control for grasping and manipulation

Robot hands have been one of the major research topics since the beginning of robotics because grasping and manipulation of a variety of objects by robot hands are fundamental functionalities of various robotic systems. This paper presents a survey on the current state of research on control of grasping and manipulation by multifingered robot hands. After a brief history of the hardware development of multifingered robot hands, representative theoretical research results are presented in the area of grasping and manipulation. Regarding grasping, basic analytical concepts including force/form closures and active/passive closures are explained and various grasp quality measures for grasping position optimization are introduced. Regarding manipulation, the hybrid position/force control method and impedance control method are presented. Some of our recent results on grasping and manipulation by a soft-fingered hand are also presented. Finally, some future research directions are discussed.