The Mechanics of Robot Grasping

In this comprehensive textbook about robot grasping, readers will discover an integrated look at the major concepts and technical results in robot grasp mechanics. A large body of prior research, including key theories, graphical techniques, and insights on robot hand designs, is organized into a systematic review, using common notation and a common analytical framework. With introductory and advanced chapters that support senior undergraduate and graduate level robotics courses, this book provides a full introduction to robot grasping principles that are needed to model and analyze multi-finger robot grasps, and serves as a valuable reference for robotics students, researchers, and practicing robot engineers. Each chapter contains many worked-out examples, exercises with full solutions, and figures that highlight new concepts and help the reader master the use of the theories and equations presented.

Elon Rimon is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa. He has also been a Visiting Associate Faculty member at the California Institute of Technology. Professor Rimon was a finalist for the best paper award at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation in 1994 and 1996, for the Workshop on Algorithmic Foundations of Robotics in 2014 and 2016, and awarded best paper presentation at the Robotics Science and Systems Conference in 2013.

Joel Burdick is the the Richard L. and Dorothy M. Hayman Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Bioengineering at the California Institute of Technology, where he has received the NSF Presidential Young Investigator award, the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator award, and the Feynman fellowship. He has been a finalist for the best paper award for the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation in 1993, 1999, 2000, 2005, and 2016. Professor Burdick received the Popular Mechanics Breakthrough award in 2011.