Identification of contact conditions between fingers and a grasped object by active force sensing

In this paper, we discuss an identification of contact conditions by active force sensing. The contact conditions include not only contact location but also contact type and contact direction. The contact type is point, soft-finger, line or planar contact with friction. In our previous papers, the contact conditions between a grasped object and its external environment was treated. This paper identifies the contact conditions between fingers and a grasped object by using six-axis force sensors. Each finger has less than six degrees of freedom. Sensing strategies are provided. The experiment system is introduced and our proposed method is verified.