Force and motion transmissibility in dextrous manipulation

In this paper, we discuss the transmissibility of force and motion in the analysis of dextrous manipulation with sliding using soft fingers. The transmissibility of force is a well-known principle in mechanics, which states that the force can be transmitted along its line of action. The motion transmissibility, however, is not ubiquitous. The investigation of such mechanics principles in dextrous manipulation yields interesting results which have very important implications on the analysis of dextrous manipulation regarding the motion and force at the contacts. A coefficient, C_e, is found to relate the magnitude of velocity after the point of contact is transmitted to another locations. We compare such transmissibilities using rigid-body (RB) and non-rigid-body (NRB) motion analysis. Examples are presented to illustrate their usage in dextrous manipulation.