Recognition of contact state based on geometric model

The estimation of contact states by using force information acquired in the mating process is discussed, and a method for generating the state classifiers based on geometric models of workpieces on a computer is developed. A symbolic representation of contact states is addressed. Static behavior of workpieces at each contact state is analyzed by applying the theory of polyhedral convex cones. State classifiers that discriminate contact states are formulated by using the polyhedral convex cones, which directly provide a set of discriminant functions. To reduce real-time computations, the classifiers are simplified to a minimum set by using reduction rules of polyhedral convex cones. The algorithm to generate the state classifiers was implemented on a computer. An experiment to identify the current contact state from the measured reaction force is described to demonstrate the usefulness of the approach