Optimizing towards the best insertion-based error-tolerating joints

TL;DR

This paper introduces an optimization process for designing insertion-based joints that are robust against various errors, ensuring successful insertion and stability through mode analysis and contact manipulation.

Contribution

It presents a novel optimization framework that models contact modes and transitions to design error-tolerant insertion joints in 2D and 3D scenarios.

Findings

Generated joints are tolerant to manipulation, manufacturing, and sensing errors.

Simulation results demonstrate successful insertion and stability.

Analysis extends effectively from 2D to simple 3D cases.

Abstract

We present an optimization-based design process that can generate the best insertion-based joints with respect to different errors, including manipulation error, manufacturing error, and sensing error. We separate the analysis into two stages, the insertion and the after-insertion stability. Each sub-process is discretized into different modes of contacts. The transitions among the contact modes form a directed graph and the connectivity of the graph is achieved and maintained through the manipulation of the socket edge-angle and peg contact-point locations. The analysis starts in 2D with the assumption of point-edge contacts. During the optimization, the edges of the socket are rotated and the points on the peg are moved along the edges to ensure the successful insertion and the stability after insertion. We show in simulation that our proposed method can generate insertion-based joints that are tolerant to the given errors. and we present a few simple 3D projections to show that the analysis is still effective beyond 2D cases.