Some Discussion of Static Gripping and Its Stability

Recently, a large amount of research has been done in the area of dextrous manipulation. The main issue has been how to control mechanical hands so that they can perform manipulation tasks with the same dexterity and sensitivity as the human hands. To achieve sophisticated algorithms for grasping, compliance control, and manipulation, the nature of the contact wrenches, twists, and compliance of the fingers have to be well understood. One area of dextrous manipulation is of primary concern: static grasping. The two main approaches to the problems of grasping are those motivated by the study of human hands and those motivated by the physical and mechanical properties of the grasps. This includes studies of contact types numbers of fingers required to achieve grasps, equilibrium, stability, and compliance.