A control architecture for arm/hand manipulating system

The arm/hand manipulating system considered in this paper consists of a large robot (the arm) carrying a small mechanism (the hand) which through its coordinated motion is able to perform tasks in a manufacturing work-cell. In general, the arm subsystem is used to locate its end-point where the hand is connected at a specific location or to move it along a given trajectory. The hand can then be used to pick up an object or a tool, for placing the object or performing a machining task. This paper presents a control architecture for an arm/hand manipulating system. In particular, contributions of the paper are a method for controlling the fingers of the hand mechanism and classification of the forces which can act on the arm/hand system.<>