Control of linear and rotational slippage based on six-axis force/tactile sensor

• Published in: 2017 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) pp. 1587 - 1594
• Main Authors: Cirillo, Andrea, Cirillo, Pasquale, De Maria, Giuseppe, Natale, Ciro, Pirozzi, Salvatore
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01-05-2017
• Subjects: Force; Force measurement; Friction; Grasping; Grippers; Robot sensing systems
• DOI: 10.1109/ICRA.2017.7989188

In-hand manipulation is certainly one of the most challenging problems in robotic manipulation. Solutions to this problem depend on the specific device used to grab the object, but nowadays, the trend is to exploit not only the gripper but also external constraints, such as other objects in the environment or external forces, like gravity. This allows a robot to manipulate an object even with very simple grippers, like a parallel gripper. Nevertheless, even for a simple grasping task, which aims at grabbing the object with a given fixed orientation or for executing a controlled slip, information on the contact between the fingers of the gripper and the object is relevant. In these cases, both linear and rotational slipping should be controlled during the grasping phase and during the motion phase. The present paper proposes a control strategy for the first objective, namely slipping avoidance. The strategy is based on contact information provided by a six-axis force/tactile sensor, able to measure contact force and torque as well as able to provide information on the contact geometry, that means orientation of the object with respect to the gripper. Experiments on a parallel gripper sensorized with a new force/tactile sensor and mounted on a Kuka iiwa show how the strategy successfully allows the robot to safely manipulate a rigid object in various friction conditions of its surface.