# Robotic Ironing with 3D Perception and Force/Torque Feedback in Household Environments

## TL;DR

This paper presents a robotic ironing system that combines 3D perception and force/torque feedback to detect and smooth wrinkles on garments in household environments, demonstrating effective wrinkle removal with a humanoid robot.

## Contribution

It introduces a novel algorithm integrating 3D perception, wrinkle detection with WiLD, and force-controlled ironing, suitable for practical domestic use.

## Key findings

- Successfully detects wrinkles using WiLD descriptor
- Effectively reduces garment wrinkliness with force-controlled ironing
- Demonstrates feasibility on a humanoid robot platform

## Abstract

As robotic systems become more popular in household environments, the complexity of required tasks also increases. In this work we focus on a domestic chore deemed dull by a majority of the population, the task of ironing. The presented algorithm improves on the limited number of previous works by joining 3D perception with force/torque sensing, with emphasis on finding a practical solution with a feasible implementation in a domestic setting. Our algorithm obtains a point cloud representation of the working environment. From this point cloud, the garment is segmented and a custom Wrinkleness Local Descriptor (WiLD) is computed to determine the location of the present wrinkles. Using this descriptor, the most suitable ironing path is computed and, based on it, the manipulation algorithm performs the force-controlled ironing operation. Experiments have been performed with a humanoid robot platform, proving that our algorithm is able to detect successfully wrinkles present in garments and iteratively reduce the wrinkleness using an unmodified iron.