Related papers: Dynamic Non-Prehensile Object Transport via Model-…
We consider a nonprehensile manipulation task in which a mobile manipulator must balance objects on its end effector without grasping them -- known as the waiter's problem -- and move to a desired location while avoiding static and dynamic…
Developing robot controllers capable of achieving dexterous nonprehensile manipulation, such as pushing an object on a table, is challenging. The underactuated and hybrid-dynamics nature of the problem, further complicated by the…
What appears effortless to a human waiter remains a major challenge for robots. Manipulating objects nonprehensilely on a tray is inherently difficult, and the complexity is amplified in dual-arm settings. Such tasks are highly relevant to…
Agile control of mobile manipulator is challenging because of the high complexity coupled by the robotic system and the unstructured working environment. Tracking and grasping a dynamic object with a random trajectory is even harder. In…
How can a robot safely navigate around people with complex motion patterns? Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) in simulation holds some promise, but much prior work relies on simulators that fail to capture the nuances of real human motion.…
We consider the nonprehensile object transportation task known as the waiter's problem - in which a robot must move an object on a tray from one location to another - when the transported object has uncertain inertial parameters. In…
The successful operation of mobile robots requires them to adapt rapidly to environmental changes. To develop an adaptive decision-making tool for mobile robots, we propose a novel algorithm that combines meta-reinforcement learning…
Non-prehensile manipulation, such as pushing objects to a desired target position, is an important skill for robots to assist humans in everyday situations. However, the task is challenging due to the large variety of objects with different…
In this paper, a novel switching pushing skill algorithm is proposed to improve the efficiency of planar non-prehensile manipulation, which draws inspiration from human pushing actions and comprises two sub-problems, i.e., discrete…
We investigate pneumatic non-prehensile manipulation (i.e., blowing) as a means of efficiently moving scattered objects into a target receptacle. Due to the chaotic nature of aerodynamic forces, a blowing controller must (i) continually…
A particular type of assistive robots designed for physical interaction with objects could play an important role assisting with mobility and fall prevention in healthcare facilities. Autonomous mobile manipulation presents a hurdle prior…
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…
Robots are expected to replace menial tasks such as housework. Some of these tasks include nonprehensile manipulation performed without grasping objects. Nonprehensile manipulation is very difficult because it requires considering the…
Multi-object transport using multi-robot systems has the potential for diverse practical applications such as delivery services owing to its efficient individual and scalable cooperative transport. However, allocating transportation tasks…
This paper addresses the problem of pushing manipulation with nonholonomic mobile robots. Pushing is a fundamental skill that enables robots to move unwieldy objects that cannot be grasped. We propose a stable pushing method that maintains…
This paper describes a deep reinforcement learning (DRL) approach that won Phase 1 of the Real Robot Challenge (RRC) 2021, and then extends this method to a more difficult manipulation task. The RRC consisted of using a TriFinger robot to…
Precise robotic manipulation skills are desirable in many industrial settings, reinforcement learning (RL) methods hold the promise of acquiring these skills autonomously. In this paper, we explicitly consider incorporating operational…
Recent progress in deep reinforcement learning (RL) and computer vision enables artificial agents to solve complex tasks, including locomotion, manipulation and video games from high-dimensional pixel observations. However, domain specific…
Nonprehensile manipulation involves long horizon underactuated object interactions and physical contact with different objects that can inherently introduce a high degree of uncertainty. In this work, we introduce a novel Real-to-Sim reward…
The capability to adapt compliance by varying muscle stiffness is crucial for dexterous manipulation skills in humans. Incorporating compliance in robot motor control is crucial to performing real-world force interaction tasks with…