Related papers: Manipulation of unknown objects via contact config…
We consider exploration tasks in which an autonomous mobile robot incrementally builds maps of initially unknown indoor environments. In such tasks, the robot makes a sequence of decisions on where to move next that, usually, are based on…
This paper proposes a control algorithm for a UAV to circumnavigate an unknown target at a fixed radius when the location information of the UAV is unavailable. By assuming that the UAV has a constant velocity, the control algorithm makes…
In this work we consider the problem of mobile robots that need to manipulate/transport an object via cables or robotic arms. We consider the scenario where the number of manipulating robots is redundant, i.e. a desired object configuration…
Non-prehensile manipulation such as pushing is typically subject to uncertain, non-smooth dynamics. However, modeling the uncertainty of the dynamics typically results in intractable belief dynamics, making data-efficient planning under…
Most interesting problems in robotics (e.g., locomotion and manipulation) are realized through intermittent contact with the environment. Due to the perception and modeling errors, assuming an exact time for establishing contact with the…
Legged robots are typically in rigid contact with the environment at multiple locations, which add a degree of complexity to their control. We present a method to control the motion and a subset of the contact forces of a floating-base…
When performing manipulation-based activities such as picking objects, a mobile robot needs to position its base at a location that supports successful execution. To address this problem, prominent approaches typically rely on costly grasp…
For successful object manipulation with robotic hands, it is important to ensure that the object remains in the grasp at all times. In addition to grasp constraints associated with slipping and singular hand configurations, excessive…
The control of robots for manipulation tasks generally relies on visual input. Recent advances in vision-language models (VLMs) enable the use of natural language instructions to condition visual input and control robots in a wider range of…
Many manipulation tasks require the robot to control the contact between a grasped compliant tool and the environment, e.g. scraping a frying pan with a spatula. However, modeling tool-environment interaction is difficult, especially when…
A key challenge in contact-rich dexterous manipulation is the need to jointly reason over geometry, kinematic constraints, and intricate, nonsmooth contact dynamics. End-to-end visuomotor policies bypass this structure, but often require…
This paper addresses the problem of computing optimal impedance schedules for legged locomotion tasks involving complex contact interactions. We formulate the problem of impedance regulation as a trade-off between disturbance rejection and…
Robotic tasks which involve uncertainty--due to variation in goal, environment configuration, or confidence in task model--may require human input to instruct or adapt the robot. In tasks with physical contact, several existing methods for…
We can make it easier for disabled users to control assistive robots by mapping the user's low-dimensional joystick inputs to high-dimensional, complex actions. Prior works learn these mappings from human demonstrations: a non-disabled…
Multi-task learning of deformable object manipulation is a challenging problem in robot manipulation. Most previous works address this problem in a goal-conditioned way and adapt goal images to specify different tasks, which limits the…
This paper proposes a new framework to design a controller for the dexterous manipulation of an object by a multi-fingered hand. To achieve a robust manipulation and wide range of operations, the uncertainties on the location of the contact…
Model-based manipulation of deformable objects has traditionally dealt with objects while neglecting their dynamics, thus mostly focusing on very lightweight objects at steady state. At the same time, soft robotic research has made…
Humans interact with an object in many different ways by making contact at different locations, creating a highly complex motion space that can be difficult to learn, particularly when synthesizing such human interactions in a controllable…
Physics-based manipulation in clutter involves complex interaction between multiple objects. In this paper, we consider the problem of learning, from interaction in a physics simulator, manipulation skills to solve this multi-step…
This paper addresses the problem of position- and orientation-based formation control of a class of second-order nonlinear multi-agent systems in a $3$D workspace with obstacles. More specifically, we design a decentralized control protocol…