Autonomous Object Manipulation Using a Soft Planar Grasping Manipulator

• Main Authors: Katzschmann, Robert Kevin (Contributor), Rus, Daniela L (Contributor), Marchese, Andrew Dominic (Contributor)
• Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (Contributor), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Contributor), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering (Contributor)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., 2017-04-13T18:37:05Z.
• Subjects: Article
• Online Access: Get fulltext

This article presents the development of an autonomous motion planning algorithm for a soft planar grasping manipulator capable of grasp-and-place operations by encapsulation with uncertainty in the position and shape of the object. The end effector of the soft manipulator is fabricated in one piece without weakening seams using lost-wax casting instead of the commonly used multilayer lamination process. The soft manipulation system can grasp randomly positioned objects within its reachable envelope and move them to a desired location without human intervention. The autonomous planning system leverages the compliance and continuum bending of the soft grasping manipulator to achieve repeatable grasps in the presence of uncertainty. A suite of experiments is presented that demonstrates the system's capabilities.
National Science Foundation (U.S.) (NSF 1117178)
National Science Foundation (U.S.) (NSF IIS1226883)
National Science Foundation (U.S.) (NSF CCF1138967)
National Science Foundation (U.S.) (1122374)