Dual Arm Steering of Deformable Linear Objects in 2-D and 3-D Environments Using Euler's Elastica Solutions

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel dual-arm steering method for deformable linear objects using Euler's elastica solutions, enabling obstacle avoidance and stability in 2D and 3D environments with experimental validation.

Contribution

It introduces a new stability criterion and a unified scheme for steering deformable objects in both planar and 3D environments based on elastica solutions.

Findings

Successful dual-arm manipulation of deformable objects demonstrated experimentally.

The method ensures non-self-intersection and obstacle avoidance during steering.

A stability criterion for flexible object manipulation is proposed and validated.

Abstract

This paper describes a method for steering deformable linear objects using two robot hands in environments populated by sparsely spaced obstacles. The approach involves manipulating an elastic inextensible rod by varying the gripping endpoint positions and tangents. Closed form solutions that describe the flexible linear object shape in planar environments, Euler's elastica, are described. The paper uses these solutions to formulate criteria for non self-intersection, stability and obstacle avoidance. These criteria are formulated as constraints in the flexible object six-dimensional configuration space that represents the robot gripping endpoint positions and tangents. In particular, this paper introduces a novel criterion that ensures the flexible object stability during steering. All safety criteria are integrated into a scheme for steering flexible linear objects in planar environments, which is lifted into a steering scheme in three-dimensional environments populated by sparsely spaced obstacles. Experiments with a dual-arm robot demonstrate the method.