Proximity Sensor for Thin Wire Recognition and Manipulation

• Published in: Machines (Basel) Vol. 9; no. 9; p. 188
• Main Authors: Cirillo, Andrea, Laudante, Gianluca, Pirozzi, Salvatore
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-09-2021
• Subjects: Accuracy; Algorithms; Applications programs; Cables; Calibration; Cameras; dexterous manipulation; Electric fields; Formability; Grasping (robotics); object manipulation; object recognition; Occlusion; proximity sensing; Robots; Sensors; Tactile sensors (robotics); Touch; Vision systems; Wire
• ISSN: 2075-1702; 2075-1702
• DOI: 10.3390/machines9090188

In robotic grasping and manipulation, the knowledge of a precise object pose represents a key issue. The point acquires even more importance when the objects and, then, the grasping areas become smaller. This is the case of Deformable Linear Object manipulation application where the robot shall autonomously work with thin wires which pose and shape estimation could become difficult given the limited object size and possible occlusion conditions. In such applications, a vision-based system could not be enough to obtain accurate pose and shape estimation. In this work the authors propose a Time-of-Flight pre-touch sensor, integrated with a previously designed tactile sensor, for an accurate estimation of thin wire pose and shape. The paper presents the design and the characterization of the proposed sensor. Moreover, a specific object scanning and shape detection algorithm is presented. Experimental results support the proposed methodology, showing good performance. Hardware design and software applications are freely accessible to the reader.