4 accepted papers
We introduce a spherical fingertip sensor for dynamic manipulation. It is based on barometric pressure and time-of-flight proximity sensors and is low-latency, compact, and physically robust. The sensor uses a trained neural network to estimate the contact location and three-axis contact forces base…
Modern robotic manipulation systems fall short of human manipulation skills partly because they rely on closing feedback loops exclusively around vision data, which reduces system bandwidth and speed. By developing autonomous grasping reflexes that rely on high-bandwidth force, contact, and proximit…
Robots must cost less and be force-controlled to enable widespread, safe deployment in unconstrained human environments. We propose Quasi-Direct Drive actuation as a capable paradigm for robotic force-controlled manipulation in human environments at low-cost. Our prototype - Blue - is a human scale…
Parallel-jaw robot grippers can grasp almost any object and are ubiquitous in industry. Although the shape, texture, and compliance of gripper jaw surfaces affect grasp robustness, almost all commercially available grippers provide a pair of rectangular, planar, rigid jaw surfaces. Practitioners oft…