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Robotic manipulation stands as a largely unsolved problem despite significant advances in robotics and machine learning in the last decades. One of the central challenges of manipulation is partial observability, as the agent usually does…

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…

In-hand object reorientation is necessary for performing many dexterous manipulation tasks, such as tool use in less structured environments that remain beyond the reach of current robots. Prior works built reorientation systems assuming…

Grasping has long been considered an important and practical task in robotic manipulation. Yet achieving robust and efficient grasps of diverse objects is challenging, since it involves gripper design, perception, control and learning, etc.…

Manipulation planning and control are relevant building blocks of a robotic system and their tight integration is a key factor to improve robot autonomy and allows robots to perform manipulation tasks of increasing complexity, such as those…

In human-made scenarios, robots need to be able to fully operate objects in their surroundings, i.e., objects are required to be functionally grasped rather than only picked. This imposes very strict constraints on the object pose such that…

A key challenge in robotics is to create efficient methods for grasping objects with diverse shapes, sizes, poses, and properties. Grasping with hand-like end effectors often requires careful selection of hand orientation and finger…

This paper proposes a novel robotic hand design for assembly tasks. The idea is to combine two simple grippers -- an inner gripper which is used for precise alignment, and an outer gripper which is used for stable holding. Conventional…

Recent works in robotic manipulation through reinforcement learning (RL) or imitation learning (IL) have shown potential for tackling a range of tasks e.g., opening a drawer or a cupboard. However, these techniques generalize poorly to…

Accurately manipulating articulated objects is a challenging yet important task for real robot applications. In this paper, we present a novel framework called Sim2Real$^2$ to enable the robot to manipulate an unseen articulated object to…

Robot arms that assist humans should be able to pick up, move, and release everyday objects. Today's assistive robot arms use rigid grippers to pinch items between fingers; while these rigid grippers are well suited for large and heavy…

Reinforcement Learning (RL) methods have been proven successful in solving manipulation tasks autonomously. However, RL is still not widely adopted on real robotic systems because working with real hardware entails additional challenges,…

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…

This thesis is concerned with deriving planning algorithms for robot manipulators. Manipulation has two effects, the robot has a physical effect on the object, and it also acquires information about the object. This thesis presents…

Reinforcement learning (RL) is effective in many robotic applications, but it requires extensive exploration of the state-action space, during which behaviors can be unsafe. This significantly limits its applicability to large robots with…

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…

Learning object manipulation is a critical skill for robots to interact with their environment. Even though there has been significant progress in robotic manipulation of rigid objects, interacting with non-rigid objects remains challenging…

This letter presents a novel and retractable ring-shaped quadrotor called Ring-Rotor that can adjust the vehicle's length and width simultaneously. Unlike other morphing quadrotors with high platform complexity and poor controllability,…

Pick-and-place regrasp is an important manipulation skill for a robot. It helps a robot accomplish tasks that cannot be achieved within a single grasp, due to constraints such as kinematics or collisions between the robot and the…

Manipulating articulated tools, such as tweezers or scissors, has rarely been explored in previous research. Unlike rigid tools, articulated tools change their shape dynamically, creating unique challenges for dexterous robotic hands. In…