Tracing manipulation of deformable objects using robot grippers with roller fingertips

Abstract

Edge tracing is considered important for deformable object manipulation in order to reveal the original shape of the object, for example during pattern recognition. This paper proposes a unique tracing method for towel spreading which is a deformable object using two robot arms with sensors equipped grippers. Tracing in this paper context involves tracing the towel's edge, with the robot arm movement based on feedback from sensors. Development of special tools for deformable object manipulation is also considered to be important as well and must consider the properties of the deformable objects. This paper also proposes the development of a unique pair of grippers with gear at both the tips for fabric manipulation purposes. The gripper will allow more flexibility towards fabric manipulation. Experimental results have demonstrated the effectiveness of both the method and the grippers. © 2006 ICASE.