Simultaneous shape control and transport with multiple robots

Autonomous transport of objects may require multiple robots when the object is large or heavy. Besides, in the case of deformable objects, a set of robots may also be needed to maintain or adapt the shape of the object to the task requirements. The task we address consists in transporting an object, represented as a two dimensional shape or contour, along a desired path. Simultaneously, the team of robots grasping the object are controlled to the desired contour points configuration. Since the mobile robots of the team obey nonholonomic motion constraints, admissible trajectories are designed to keep the integrity of the object while following the prescribed path. Additionally, the simultaneous control of the object's shape is smoothly performed to respect the admissible deformation of the object. The main contribution lies in the definition of the grasping robots' trajectories dealing with the involved constraints. Different simulations, where the deformable object dynamics are modelled with consensus-based techniques, illustrate the performance of the approach.

[1]  Juan Antonio Corrales,et al.  Deformation-based shape control with a multirobot system , 2019, 2019 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA).

[2]  André Crosnier,et al.  Dual-arm robotic manipulation of flexible cables , 2018, 2018 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS).

[3]  Danica Kragic,et al.  Estimating deformability of objects using meshless shape matching , 2017, 2017 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS).

[4]  Yun-Hui Liu,et al.  Fourier-Based Shape Servoing: A New Feedback Method to Actively Deform Soft Objects into Desired 2-D Image Contours , 2018, IEEE Transactions on Robotics.

[5]  Ulrich Eckhardt,et al.  Shape descriptors for non-rigid shapes with a single closed contour , 2000, Proceedings IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition. CVPR 2000 (Cat. No.PR00662).

[6]  Ronen Basri,et al.  Elasticity-based Matching by Minimizing the Symmetric Difference of Shapes , 2015, IET Comput. Vis..

[7]  John T. Wen,et al.  Cooperative Load Transport: A Formation-Control Perspective , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Robotics.

[8]  Miguel Aranda,et al.  Adaptive Multirobot Formation Planning to Enclose and Track a Target With Motion and Visibility Constraints , 2020, IEEE Transactions on Robotics.

[9]  Javier Alonso-Mora,et al.  Multi-robot formation control and object transport in dynamic environments via constrained optimization , 2017, Int. J. Robotics Res..

[10]  Snigdhansu Chatterjee,et al.  Procrustes Problems , 2005, Technometrics.

[11]  Reza Olfati-Saber,et al.  Consensus and Cooperation in Networked Multi-Agent Systems , 2007, Proceedings of the IEEE.

[12]  Jia Pan,et al.  Three-Dimensional Deformable Object Manipulation Using Fast Online Gaussian Process Regression , 2017, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.

[13]  Belhassen-Chedli Bouzgarrou,et al.  Robotic manipulation and sensing of deformable objects in domestic and industrial applications: a survey , 2018, Int. J. Robotics Res..

[14]  Gonzalo López-Nicolás,et al.  Survey on multi-robot manipulation of deformable objects , 2019, 2019 24th IEEE International Conference on Emerging Technologies and Factory Automation (ETFA).

[15]  W. Marsden.  I and J , 2012 .

[16]  Ross A. Knepper,et al.  Local motion planning for collaborative multi-robot manipulation of deformable objects , 2015, 2015 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA).

[17]  Yunhui Liu,et al.  Position Control of Robot Manipulators Manipulating a Flexible Payload , 1999, Int. J. Robotics Res..

[18]  David St-Onge,et al.  Decentralized collaborative transport of fabrics using micro-UAVs , 2018, 2019 International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA).

[19]  Bruce Randall Donald,et al.  Moving furniture with teams of autonomous robots , 1995, Proceedings 1995 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems. Human Robot Interaction and Cooperative Robots.

[20]  Jadav Das,et al.  Autonomous Shape Control of a Deformable Object by Multiple Manipulators , 2011, J. Intell. Robotic Syst..

[21]  Roi Poranne,et al.  Interactive Robotic Manipulation of Elastic Objects , 2018, 2018 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS).

[22]  Hyo-Sung Ahn,et al.  A survey of multi-agent formation control : Position-, displacement-, and distance-based approaches , 2012 .

[23]  Hyo-Sung Ahn,et al.  A survey of multi-agent formation control , 2015, Autom..

[24]  Máximo A. Roa,et al.  Grasp quality measures: review and performance , 2014, Autonomous Robots.

[25]  Shinichi Hirai,et al.  Robust manipulation of deformable objects by a simple PID feedback , 2001, Proceedings 2001 ICRA. IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (Cat. No.01CH37164).

[26]  Weiping Li,et al.  Applied Nonlinear Control , 1991 .

[27]  Yunhui Liu,et al.  Automatic 3-D Manipulation of Soft Objects by Robotic Arms With an Adaptive Deformation Model , 2016, IEEE Transactions on Robotics.

[28]  Mac Schwager,et al.  Kinematic multi-robot manipulation with no communication using force feedback , 2016, 2016 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA).

[29]  G. G. Stokes.  "J." , 1890, The New Yale Book of Quotations.

[30]  Randy A. Freeman,et al.  Tutorial on Dynamic Average Consensus: The Problem, Its Applications, and the Algorithms , 2018, IEEE Control Systems.