Motion Planning for Object Manipulation by Edge-Rolling

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel screw theory-based method for planning edge-rolling object manipulation paths, enabling efficient and maneuverable handling of curved objects with robotic arms.

Contribution

It presents a new approximation approach for edge-rolling motions and an optimization-based algorithm for path generation considering robot joint constraints.

Findings

Successfully manipulated a cylinder along various paths

Validated the method on a Franka Emika Panda robot

Demonstrated improved maneuverability and efficiency

Abstract

A common way to manipulate heavy objects is to maintain at least one point of the object in contact with the environment during the manipulation. When the object has a cylindrical shape or, in general, a curved edge, not only sliding and pivoting motions but also rolling the object along the edge can effectively satisfy this condition. Edge-rolling offers several advantages in terms of efficiency and maneuverability. This paper aims to develop a novel approach for approximating the prehensile edge-rolling motion on any path by a sequence of constant screw displacements, leveraging the principles of screw theory. Based on this approach, we proposed an algorithmic method for task-space-based path generation of object manipulation between two given configurations using a sequence of rolling and pivoting motions. The method is based on an optimization algorithm that takes into account the joint limitations of the robot. To validate our approach, we conducted experiments to manipulate a cylinder along linear and curved paths using the Franka Emika Panda manipulator.