On motion planning for dexterous manipulation. I. The problem formulation

The authors formulate the dextrous manipulation problem for a robot hand. First, dextrous manipulation is decomposed into coordinated manipulation, rolling motion, sliding motion, and finger relocation. Then the authors develop motion constraints for each of the manipulation modes and show that for finger motions that satisfy these constraints there exists a well-defined lift to the total space that links two contact configurations. Of special note is the incorporation of nonholonomic as well as holonomic and unilateral as well as bilateral constraints in motion planning.<<ETX>>