Related papers: Soft Vision-Based Tactile-Enabled SixthFinger: Adv…
A long-standing question in robot hand design is how accurate tactile sensing must be. This paper uses simulated tactile signals and the reinforcement learning (RL) framework to study the sensing needs in grasping systems. Our first…
The sophisticated sense of touch of the human hand significantly contributes to our ability to safely, efficiently, and dexterously manipulate arbitrary objects in our environment. Robotic and prosthetic devices lack refined, tactile…
In this paper, we address force-aware control and force distribution in robotic platforms with multi-fingered hands. Given a target goal and force estimates from tactile sensors, we design a controller that adapts the motion of the torso,…
Vision-based grasping systems typically adopt an open-loop execution of a planned grasp. This policy can fail due to many reasons, including ubiquitous calibration error. Recovery from a failed grasp is further complicated by visual…
A challenging and important problem for tendon-driven multi-fingered robotic hands is to ensure grasping adaptivity while minimizing the number of actuators needed to provide human-like functionality. Inspired by the Pisa/IIT SoftHand, this…
Loss of upper extremity motor control and function is an unremitting symptom in post-stroke patients. This would impose hardships on accomplishing their daily life activities. Supernumerary robotic limbs (SRLs) were introduced as a solution…
Despite many advances in service robotics, successful and secure object manipulation on mobile platforms is still a challenge. In order to come closer to human grasping performance, it is natural to provide robots with the same capability…
Palpation, the use of touch in medical examination, is almost exclusively performed by humans. We investigate a proof of concept for an artificial palpation method based on self-supervised learning. Our key idea is that an encoder-decoder…
The advent of tactile sensors in robotics has sparked many ideas on how robots can leverage direct contact measurements of their environment interactions to improve manipulation tasks. An important line of research in this regard is that of…
Robotic grasp detection is a fundamental capability for intelligent manipulation in unstructured environments. Previous work mainly employed visual and tactile fusion to achieve stable grasp, while, the whole process depending heavily on…
As more robots are implemented for contact-rich tasks, tactile sensors are in increasing demand. For many circumstances, the contact is required to be compliant, and soft sensors are in need. This paper introduces a novelly designed soft…
Vision-based tactile sensors have gained extensive attention in the robotics community. The sensors are highly expected to be capable of extracting contact information i.e. haptic information during in-hand manipulation. This nature of…
Rehabilitation assessment is critical to determine an adequate intervention for a patient. However, the current practices of assessment mainly rely on therapist's experience, and assessment is infrequently executed due to the limited…
Tactile sensing is an essential perception for robots to complete dexterous tasks. As a promising tactile sensing technique, vision-based tactile sensors have been developed to improve robot performance in manipulation and grasping. Here we…
Monitoring the state of contact is essential for robotic devices, especially grippers that implement gecko-inspired adhesives where intimate contact is crucial for a firm attachment. However, due to the lack of deformable sensors, few have…
Intelligent interaction with the physical world requires perceptual abilities beyond vision and hearing; vibrant tactile sensing is essential for autonomous robots to dexterously manipulate unfamiliar objects or safely contact humans.…
Many robotic hands currently rely on extremely dexterous robotic fingers and a thumb joint to envelop themselves around an object. Few hands focus on the palm even though human hands greatly benefit from their central fold and soft surface.…
Rapid deployment of new tactile sensors is essential for scalable robotic manipulation, especially in multi-fingered hands equipped with vision-based tactile sensors. However, current methods for inferring contact properties rely heavily on…
This work presents a next-generation human-robot interface that can infer and realize the user's manipulation intention via sight only. Specifically, we develop a system that integrates near-eye-tracking and robotic manipulation to enable…
This paper, and its companion, propose a new fractal robotic gripper, drawing inspiration from the century-old Fractal Vise. The unusual synergistic properties allow it to passively conform to diverse objects using only one actuator.…