Related papers: Deformable Elasto-Plastic Object Shaping using an …
Controlling the shape of deformable linear objects using robots and constraints provided by environmental fixtures has diverse industrial applications. In order to establish robust contacts with these fixtures, accurate estimation of the…
Soft robots are notoriously hard to control. This is partly due to the scarcity of models able to capture their complex continuum mechanics, resulting in a lack of control methodologies that take full advantage of body compliance. Currently…
Grasp synthesis for 3D deformable objects remains a little-explored topic, most works aiming to minimize deformations. However, deformations are not necessarily harmful -- humans are, for example, able to exploit deformations to generate…
Manipulating deformable objects has long been a challenge in robotics due to its high dimensional state representation and complex dynamics. Recent success in deep reinforcement learning provides a promising direction for learning to…
This paper presents the technique of flex-and-flip manipulation. It is suitable for grasping thin, flexible linear objects lying on a flat surface. During the manipulation process, the object is first flexed by a robotic gripper whose…
Deformable linear object (DLO) manipulation is needed in many fields. Previous research on deformable linear object (DLO) manipulation has primarily involved parallel jaw gripper manipulation with fixed grasping positions. However, the…
Learning to manipulate 3D objects in an interactive environment has been a challenging problem in Reinforcement Learning (RL). In particular, it is hard to train a policy that can generalize over objects with different semantic categories,…
The manipulation of flexible objects such as cables, wires and fresh food items by robot hands forms a special challenge in robot grasp mechanics. This paper considers the steering of flexible linear objects in planar environments by two…
In this work, we aim to learn dexterous manipulation of deformable objects using multi-fingered hands. Reinforcement learning approaches for dexterous rigid object manipulation would struggle in this setting due to the complexity of physics…
Robotic grasping of 3D deformable objects (e.g., fruits/vegetables, internal organs, bottles/boxes) is critical for real-world applications such as food processing, robotic surgery, and household automation. However, developing grasp…
In the field of robotic manipulation, the proficiency of deformable object manipulation lags behind human capabilities due to the inherent characteristics of deformable objects. These objects have infinite degrees of freedom, resulting in…
In-hand object manipulation is challenging to simulate due to complex contact dynamics, non-repetitive finger gaits, and the need to indirectly control unactuated objects. Further adapting a successful manipulation skill to new objects with…
Robot co-design, where the morphology of a robot is optimized jointly with a learned policy to solve a specific task, is an emerging area of research. It holds particular promise for soft robots, which are amenable to novel manufacturing…
Object grasping is an important ability required for various robot tasks. In particular, tasks that require precise force adjustments during operation, such as grasping an unknown object or using a grasped tool, are difficult for humans to…
The automatic shape control of deformable objects is a challenging (and currently hot) manipulation problem due to their high-dimensional geometric features and complex physical properties. In this study, a new methodology to manipulate…
Bagging is an essential skill that humans perform in their daily activities. However, deformable objects, such as bags, are complex for robots to manipulate. This paper presents an efficient learning-based framework that enables robots to…
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…
One of the trendsetting themes in soft robotics has been the goal of developing the ultimate universal soft robotic gripper. One that is capable of manipulating items of various shapes, sizes, thicknesses, textures, and weights. All the…
The robotic manipulation of Deformable Linear Objects (DLOs) is a vital and challenging task that is important in many practical applications. Classical model-based approaches to this problem require an accurate model to capture how robot…
If robots could reliably manipulate the shape of 3D deformable objects, they could find applications in fields ranging from home care to warehouse fulfillment to surgical assistance. Analytic models of elastic, 3D deformable objects require…