Related papers: Model-Based Manipulation of Linear Flexible Object…
Well structured visual representations can make robot learning faster and can improve generalization. In this paper, we study how we can acquire effective object-centric representations for robotic manipulation tasks without human labeling…
Most research on deformable linear object (DLO) manipulation assumes rigid grasping. However, beyond rigid grasping and re-grasping, in-hand following is also an essential skill that humans use to dexterously manipulate DLOs, which requires…
Despite recent advancements in AI for robotics, grasping remains a partially solved challenge, hindered by the lack of benchmarks and reproducibility constraints. This paper introduces a vision-based grasping framework that can easily be…
We present a sampling-based approach to reasoning about the caging-based manipulation of rigid and a simplified class of deformable 3D objects subject to energy constraints. Towards this end, we propose the notion of soft fixtures extending…
Planning robotic manipulation tasks, especially those that involve interaction between deformable and rigid objects, is challenging due to the complexity in predicting such interactions. We introduce SPONGE, a sequence planning pipeline…
We present a physics-based framework to simulate porous, deformable materials and interactive tools with haptic feedback that can reshape it. In order to allow the material to be moulded non-homogeneously, we propose an algorithm to change…
Robots are increasingly expected to manipulate objects in ever more unstructured environments where the object properties have high perceptual uncertainty from any single sensory modality. This directly impacts successful object…
We present Virtual Elastic Objects (VEOs): virtual objects that not only look like their real-world counterparts but also behave like them, even when subject to novel interactions. Achieving this presents multiple challenges: not only do…
Deformable object manipulation (DOM) is an emerging research problem in robotics. The ability to manipulate deformable objects endows robots with higher autonomy and promises new applications in the industrial, services, and healthcare…
Flexible sensors are increasingly employed in soft robotics and wearable devices to provide proprioception of freeform deformations.Although supervised learning can train shape predictors from sensor signals, prediction accuracy strongly…
A standard motion control with feedback of the output displacement cannot handle unforeseen contact with environment without penetrating into the soft, i.e. viscoelastic, materials or even damaging the fragile materials. Robotics and…
Learning 3D shape representation with dense correspondence for deformable objects is a fundamental problem in computer vision. Existing approaches often need additional annotations of specific semantic domain, e.g., skeleton poses for human…
Inspired by how humans reason over discrete objects and their relationships, we explore whether compact object-centric and object-relation representations can form a foundation for multitask robotic manipulation. Most existing robotic…
Adaptive control for real-time manipulation requires quick estimation and prediction of object properties. While robot learning in this area primarily focuses on using vision, many tasks cannot rely on vision due to object occlusion. Here,…
Robots often face manipulation tasks in environments where vision is inadequate due to clutter, occlusions, or poor lighting--for example, reaching a shutoff valve at the back of a sink cabinet or locating a light switch above a crowded…
Food cutting is a highly practical yet underexplored application at the intersection of vision and robotic manipulation. The task remains challenging because interactions between the knife and deformable materials are highly nonlinear and…
We propose a neural network-based approach for collision detection with deformable objects. Unlike previous approaches based on bounding volume hierarchies, our neural approach does not require an update of the spatial data structure when…
Robot-to-human object handover is an essential skill for robot assistants, from serving drinks at home to passing surgical tools in the operating room. We expect robots to perform handover robustly -- to release the object only after a firm…
This paper presents Particle-based Object Manipulation (Prompt), a new approach to robot manipulation of novel objects ab initio, without prior object models or pre-training on a large object data set. The key element of Prompt is a…
Shape servoing, a robotic task dedicated to controlling objects to desired goal shapes, is a promising approach to deformable object manipulation. An issue arises, however, with the reliance on the specification of a goal shape. This goal…