The application of a metaheuristic search algorithm is proposed to determine the degrees of freedom of a linear state feedback control law, designed to achieve independent force and position control of multitask cooperating robotic manipulators. The determination of the appropriate values for the controller's degrees of freedom may be formulated as an optimization under constraints problem. The metaheuristic search algorithm provides an easy to implement and computationally efficient solution for this problem, which is complicated due to the large number of constraints, in addition to the highly nonlinear structure of the functions that determine the "squeezing forces".