Related papers: Deformable Elasto-Plastic Object Shaping using an …

The Finite Element Method (FEM) is a powerful modeling tool for predicting soft robots' behavior, but its computation time can limit practical applications. In this paper, a learning-based approach based on condensation of the FEM model is…

The combination of deep neural network models and reinforcement learning algorithms can make it possible to learn policies for robotic behaviors that directly read in raw sensory inputs, such as camera images, effectively subsuming both…

Learning to manipulate cloth is both a paradigmatic problem for robotic research and a problem of immediate relevance to a variety of applications ranging from assistive care to the service industry. The complex physics of the deformable…

In robotic grasping, objects are often occluded in ungraspable configurations such that no pregrasp pose can be found, eg large flat boxes on the table that can only be grasped from the side. Inspired by humans' bimanual manipulation, eg…

In this paper we tackle the problem of deformable object manipulation through model-free visual reinforcement learning (RL). In order to circumvent the sample inefficiency of RL, we propose two key ideas that accelerate learning. First, we…

This paper tackles the task of singulating and grasping paper-like deformable objects. We refer to such tasks as paper-flipping. In contrast to manipulating deformable objects that lack compression strength (such as shirts and ropes), minor…

Humans and animals are capable of quickly learning new behaviours to solve new tasks. Yet, we often forget that they also rely on a highly specialized morphology that co-adapted with motor control throughout thousands of years. Although…

Hot-rolling is a metal forming process that produces a workpiece with a desired target cross-section from an input workpiece through a sequence of plastic deformations; each deformation is generated by a stand composed of opposing rolls…

Can robots mold soft plastic materials by shaping depth images? The short answer is no: current day robots can't. In this article, we address the problem of shaping plastic material with an anthropomorphic arm/hand robot, which observes the…

We address the challenge of learning to manipulate deformable objects with unknown dynamics. In non-rigid objects, the dynamics parameters define how they react to interactions -- how they stretch, bend, compress, and move -- and they are…

Robotic manipulation of deformable 1D objects such as ropes, cables, and hoses is challenging due to the lack of high-fidelity analytic models and large configuration spaces. Furthermore, learning end-to-end manipulation policies directly…

Object handover is an important skill that we use daily when interacting with other humans. To deploy robots in collaborative setting, like houses, being able to receive and handing over objects safely and efficiently becomes a crucial…

We reconstruct 3D deformable object through time, in the context of a live pottery making process where the crafter molds the object. Because the object suffers from heavy hand interaction, and is being deformed, classical techniques cannot…

Developable surfaces are commonly observed in various applications such as architecture, product design, manufacturing, mechanical materials, and data physicalization as well as in the development of tangible interaction and deformable…

This paper proposes a unified vision-based manipulation framework using image contours of deformable/rigid objects. Instead of using human-defined cues, the robot automatically learns the features from processed vision data. Our method…

Deformable object manipulation remains a challenging task in robotics research. Conventional techniques for parameter inference and state estimation typically rely on a precise definition of the state space and its dynamics. While this is…

The robotic handling of compliant and deformable food raw materials, characterized by high biological variation, complex geometrical 3D shapes, and mechanical structures and texture, is currently in huge demand in the ocean space,…

Robots built from soft materials can alter their shape and size in a particular profile. This shape-changing ability could be extremely helpful for rescue robots and those operating in unknown terrains and environments. In changing shape,…

This paper presents a robotic in-hand manipulation technique that can be applied to pick an object too large to grasp in a prehensile manner, by taking advantage of its contact interactions with a curved, passive end-effector, and two flat…

Grasping an object when it is in an ungraspable pose is a challenging task, such as books or other large flat objects placed horizontally on a table. Inspired by human manipulation, we address this problem by pushing the object to the edge…