10 accepted papers
In this paper, we study the problem of methodically obtaining a sufficient set of kinesthetic demonstrations, one at a time, such that a robot can be confident of its ability to perform a complex manipulation task in a given region of its workspace. Although programming by demonstration has been an …
Accurate localization of graspable regions within a single object point cloud is critical to enable task-based robot grasps. State-of-the-art task-based robot grasp synthesis methods fit over-approximated 3D bounding boxes that, in some cases, fail to isolate graspable regions even if they exist. Wh
In complex manipulation tasks, e.g., manipulation by pivoting, the motion of the object being manipulated has to satisfy path constraints that can change during the motion. Therefore, a single grasp may not be sufficient for the entire path, and the object may need to be regrasped. Additionally, geo
Given a demonstration of a complex manipulation task, such as pouring liquid from one container to another, we seek to generate a motion plan for a new task instance involving objects with different geometries. This is nontrivial since we need to simultaneously ensure that the implicit motion constr
A typical manipulation task consists of a manipulator equipped with a gripper to grasp and move an object with constraints on the motion of the hand-held object, which may be due to the nature of the task itself or from object-environment contacts. In this paper, we study the problem of computing jo…
Containerized vertical farming is a type of vertical farming practice using hydroponics in which plants are grown in vertical layers within a mobile shipping container. Space limitations within shipping containers make the automation of different farming operations challenging. In this paper, we exp…
In this paper, we study the problem of task-oriented grasp synthesis from partial point cloud data using an eye-in-hand camera configuration. In task-oriented grasp synthesis, a grasp has to be selected so that the object is not lost during manipulation, and it is also ensured that adequate force/mo…
Evaluating a grasp generated by a set of hand-object contact locations is a key component of many grasp planning algorithms. In this paper, we present a novel second-order cone program (SOCP) based optimization formulation for evaluating a grasps’ ability to apply wrenches to generate a linear motio…
Manipulation of objects by exploiting their contact with the environment can enhance both the dexterity and payload capability of robotic manipulators. A common way to manipulate heavy objects beyond the payload capability of a robot is to use a sequence of pivoting motions, wherein, an object is mo…
In this paper, we study the problem of computing grasping forces for quasi-static manipulation of large and heavy objects, by exploiting object-environment contacts. We present a general formulation of this problem as a Second-Order Cone Program (SOCP) that considers (i) contact friction constraints…