TSP-Bot: Robotic TSP Pen Art using High-DoF Manipulators

TL;DR

This paper introduces TSP-Bot, a robotic system that creates intricate TSP-based pen art on planar surfaces by converting images into point sets, solving TSP paths, and executing smooth, optimized drawing trajectories with high-DoF manipulators.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel robotic pen art system that converts images into TSP paths and executes complex, smooth drawings using high-DoF manipulators, advancing robotic art creation.

Findings

Successfully creates complex TSP pen art with multiple colors

Generates smooth, optimized drawing paths using Bezier curves

Demonstrates high-precision robotic execution of intricate designs

Abstract

TSP art is an art form for drawing an image using piecewise-continuous line segments. We present TSP-Bot, a robotic pen drawing system capable of creating complicated TSP pen art on a planar surface using multiple colors. The system begins by converting a colored raster image into a set of points that represent the image's tone, which can be controlled by adjusting the point density. Next, the system finds a piecewise-continuous linear path that visits each point exactly once, which is equivalent to solving a Traveling Salesman Problem (TSP). The path is simplified with fewer points using bounded approximation and smoothed and optimized using Bezier spline curves with bounded curvature. Our robotic drawing system consisting of single or dual manipulators with fingered grippers and a mobile platform performs the drawing task by following the resulting complex and sophisticated path composed of thousands of TSP sites. As a result, our system can draw complicated and visually pleasing TSP pen art.