Development of an intelligent object for grasp and manipulation research

Kõiva R, Haschke R, Ritter H. Development of an intelligent object for grasp and manipulation research. Presented at the ICAR 2011, Tallinn, Estonia.In this paper we introduce a novel device, called iObject, which is equipped with tactile and motion tracking sensors that allow for the evaluation of human and robot grasping and manipulation actions. Contact location and contact force, object acceleration in space (6D) and orientation relative to the earth (3D magnetometer) are measured and transmitted wirelessly over a Bluetooth connection. By allowing human-human, human-robot and robot-robot comparisons to be made, iObject is a versatile tool for studying manual interaction. To demonstrate the efficiency and flexibility of iObject for the study of bimanual interactions, we report on a physiological experiment and evaluate the main parameters of the considered dual-handed manipulation task

Tactile sensors for robotic applications

In recent years, tactile sensing has become a key enabling technology to implement complex tasks by using robotic systems [...]

Dexterous manipulation of unknown objects using virtual contact points

The manipulation of unknown objects is a problem of special interest in robotics since it is not always possible to have exact models of the objects with which the robot interacts. This paper presents a simple strategy to manipulate unknown objects using a robotic hand equipped with tactile sensors. The hand configurations that allow the rotation of an unknown object are computed using only tactile and kinematic information, obtained during the manipulation process and reasoning about the desired and real positions of the fingertips during the manipulation. This is done taking into account that the desired positions of the fingertips are not physically reachable since they are located in the interior of the manipulated object and therefore they are virtual positions with associated virtual contact points. The proposed approach was satisfactorily validated using three fingers of an anthropomorphic robotic hand (Allegro Hand), with the original fingertips replaced by tactile sensors (WTS-FT). In the experimental validation, several everyday objects with different shapes were successfully manipulated, rotating them without the need of knowing their shape or any other physical property.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Sensors for Robotic Hands: A Survey of State of the Art

Recent decades have seen significant progress in the field of artificial hands. Most of the surveys, which try to capture the latest developments in this field, focused on actuation and control systems of these devices. In this paper, our goal is to provide a comprehensive survey of the sensors for artificial hands. In order to present the evolution of the field, we cover five year periods starting at the turn of the millennium. At each period, we present the robot hands with a focus on their sensor systems dividing them into categories, such as prosthetics, research devices, and industrial end-effectors.We also cover the sensors developed for robot hand usage in each era. Finally, the period between 2010 and 2015 introduces the reader to the state of the art and also hints to the future directions in the sensor development for artificial hands