
A force closure grasp is a term from dexterous manipulation that indicates a grasp that can resist any applied wrench, or force-torque. Force closure grasps are desirable because they can completely immobilize an object or impart an arbitrary wrench to an object. With fixed-base manipulators, determining the degree of force closure of a manipulation system is simplified to determining the degree of force closure of the gripper or end effector. In mobile manipulation, the manipulator base is not fixed to the ground so determining the set of wrenches that can be resisted is not strictly limited to the capabilities of the end effector. But due to the large differences in mass of the mobile base and end effector, it is generally safe to assume the degree of force closure is limited by the end effector and not by the ability of the mobile base to remain motionless. As aerial mobile manipulation has started to become an active area of research, the concept of force closure of the entire manipulation system needs to be considered. Conventional aerial platforms are not able to resist an arbitrary wrench so an end effector carried by such a vehicle will not be able to exhibit force closure. This is true because even current quad rotors lack both the number of degrees of freedom but also independence of the degrees of freedom due to the fact that the force vectors are all parallel. We have developed a hex-rotor system with six independent degrees of freedom providing force closure for a dexterous aerial vehicle for mobile manipulation tasks. The ability of the aerial mobile base to exert an arbitrary wrench coupled with a low degree of freedom manipulator will allow for an agile aerial mobile manipulator with true force closure.
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