Robust Manipulation in Clutter - Mark Cutkosky

We are interested in robots that can acquire and manipulate objects in cluttered spaces, as commonly found in kitchens and retail settings. Our research approach includes the design of new hands and tactile sensors for operating safely in these contact-rich scenarios. The hands have low inertia and high mobility for working in tight spaces without requiring large motions of the robot arms and without causing damage. They are covered with soft tactile sensors – not only on the nominal grasping surfaces but also on the backs and sides of the hands and on the forearms. We identify and track the evolution of tactile features to detect and monitor incidental and intentional contacts. The next stage of this work is to make use of tactile features for reactive control and motion planning.