Design and analysis of an enhanced opportunistic system for grasping

The design and analysis of an enhanced opportunistic system (EOS) is presented within the realm of grasp achievement through object reconstruction. The EOS is based on a centralized opportunistic control architecture driven by a novel rating system. The novel rating system is embedded within the agents of the opportunistic architecture and it is a part of the control mechanism of the EOS allowing each agent to estimate its own worth during each cycle. The grasp achievement strategies incorporated within the EOS include object reconstruction methods for curved objects and a measure of the quality of the resultant grasp. The analysis of the EOS investigates the ability of the EOS to generate good tip-prehension grasps of spheres and cylinders with a three-fingered robotic hand. The robustness of the novel rating system is also assessed. The EOS is a modular, thus flexible, system and these features are illustrated through the implementation of grasping with a parallel reconfigurable jaw end-effector.