Pose-seeking algorithms for the control of dexterous robot hands

In applications of manipulating, or dexterous robot hands, it is necessary to use sensors and suitable algorithms to determine the pose of the workpiece when it is acquired by the hand so that it can be brought to the desired final pose. The feedback obtained from common hand sensors such as tactile arrays and optical through-beam pairs is intermittent, and therefore control algorithms are needed to manipulate the workpiece so as to activate these sensors to obtain pose information with the least amount of manipulation. A hand that manipulates cylindrical-type workpieces in five degrees of freedom is used as an illustration. A pose-seeking algorithm using the hand´s through-beam sensors is presented, and theoretical foundations are laid for extending the work to include other types of workpieces.