Robot finger control for rolling on curved surfaces

In this work the problem of designing a low complexity state feedback controller which enforces the domination of the rolling motion of a spherical robotic fingertip upon a curved surface is considered. Fingertip rolling is essential for robot object fine positioning and manipulation and should be explicitly considered as a control objective. The prescribed performance control methodology is employed. Under the designed controller, the sliding and spinning regime of the robot tip motion is quickly suppressed, a desired position and normal force is reached with prespecified transient and steady state behavior while contact maintenance is guaranteed. Simulations validate the approach.