RSS 2015 Workshop

Bridging the Gap between Data-driven and Analytical Physics-based Grasping and Manipulation

July 16, Rome

"Local and global methods for deformable object manipulation", Jan Peters, Dmitry Berenson, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

This talk will present our recent work on manipulation of deformable objects from both a local and global perspective. In both approaches to the problem we exploit the geometric aspects of deformable object manipulation and avoid the difficulties of physical simulation of deformable objects. The local methods we develop are akin to visual-servoing controllers but, unlike previous work, do not require the physical model of the object or a deformable object simulator to compute manipulation actions. Our global methods allow us to plan with voxel-based models of deformable objects to minimize deformation of sensitive objects (e.g. organs or tissue). In low dimensions we produce resolution-optimal plans using an A*-based approach. For higher-dimensional problems we use sampling-based planners to produce low-deformation paths. We then execute the planned paths using a controller that adapts to unforeseen changes in the environment.