Related papers: Real-time Contact State Estimation in Shape Contro…

In this paper, we address the shape formation problem for massive robot swarms in environments where external localization systems are unavailable. Achieving this task effectively with solely onboard measurements is still scarcely explored…

This paper proposes a real-time physically-based method for simulating vehicle deformation. Our system synthesizes vehicle deformation characteristics by considering a low-dimensional coupled vehicle body technique. We simulate the motion…

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…

Deformable object manipulation requires computationally efficient representations that are compatible with robotic sensing modalities. In this paper, we present VIRDO:an implicit, multi-modal, and continuous representation for…

For robots with low rigidity, determining the robot's state based solely on kinematics is challenging. This is particularly crucial for a robot whose entire body is in contact with the environment, as accurate state estimation is essential…

Deformable objects often appear in unstructured configurations. Tracing deformable objects helps bringing them into extended states and facilitating the downstream manipulation tasks. Due to the requirements for object-specific modeling or…

Robots built from soft materials will inherently apply lower environmental forces than their rigid counterparts, and therefore may be more suitable in sensitive settings with unintended contact. However, these robots' applied forces result…

Identifying changes in contact during contact-rich manipulation can detect task state or errors, enabling improved robustness and autonomy. The ability to detect contact is affected by the mechatronic design of the robot, especially its…

We have seen much recent progress in rigid object manipulation, but interaction with deformable objects has notably lagged behind. Due to the large configuration space of deformable objects, solutions using traditional modelling approaches…

Force control is essential for medical robots when touching and contacting the patient's body. To increase the stability and efficiency in force control, an Adaption Module could be used to adjust the parameters for different contact…

Handling object deformations for robotic grasping is still a major problem to solve. In this paper, we propose an efficient learning-free solution for this problem where generated grasp hypotheses of a region of an object are adapted to its…

Reorienting diverse objects with a multi-fingered hand is a challenging task. Current methods in robotic in-hand manipulation are either object-specific or require permanent supervision of the object state from visual sensors. This is far…

Robotic manipulation systems operating in complex environments rely on perception systems that provide information about the geometry (pose and 3D shape) of the objects in the scene along with other semantic information such as object…

We present an approach to robustly track the geometry of an object that deforms over time from a set of input point clouds captured from a single viewpoint. The deformations we consider are caused by applying forces to known locations on…

This paper investigates one of the most challenging tasks in dynamic manipulation -- catching large-momentum moving objects. Beyond the realm of quasi-static manipulation, dealing with highly dynamic objects can significantly improve the…

We demonstrate model-based, visual robot manipulation of linear deformable objects. Our approach is based on a state-space representation of the physical system that the robot aims to control. This choice has multiple advantages, including…

Contact estimation is a key ability for limbed robots, where making and breaking contacts has a direct impact on state estimation and balance control. Existing approaches typically rely on gate-cycle priors or designated contact sensors. We…

Developing robot controllers in a simulated environment is advantageous but transferring the controllers to the target environment presents challenges, often referred to as the "sim-to-real gap". We present a method for continuous…

Deformable objects present a formidable challenge for robotic manipulation due to the lack of canonical low-dimensional representations and the difficulty of capturing, predicting, and controlling such objects. We construct compact…

From serving a cup of coffee to positioning mechanical parts during assembly, stable object placement is a crucial skill for future robots. It becomes particularly challenging under geometric uncertainties, e.g., when the object pose or…