Ti, B., Gao, Y., Zhao, J. and Calinon, S. (2024)
An Optimal Control Formulation of Tool Affordance Applied to Impact Tasks
IEEE Transactions on Robotics (T-RO), 40, 1966-1982.

Abstract

Humans use tools to complete impact-aware tasks such as hammering a nail or playing tennis. The postures adopted to use these tools can significantly influence the performance of impact-aware tasks, where the force or velocity of the hand holding a tool plays a crucial role. For these tasks, the motion planning challenge consists of reaching a target and achieving an optimal body posture in preparation for the object manipulation. Directional manipulability describes the dexterity of force and velocity in a joint configuration along a specific direction. In order to take directional manipulability and tool affordances into account, we apply an optimal control method combining iterative linear quadratic regulator (iLQR) with the alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM). Our approach considers the notion of tool affordances to solve motion planning problems, by introducing a cost based on directional velocity manipulability. The proposed approach is applied to impact tasks in simulation and on a real 7-axis robot, specifically in a nail-hammering task with the assistance of a pilot hole. Our comparison study demonstrates the importance of maximizing directional manipulability in impact-aware tasks.

Bibtex reference

@article{Ti24TRO,
	author={Ti, B. and Gao, Y. and Zhao, J. and Calinon, S.},
	title={An Optimal Control Formulation of Tool Affordance Applied to Impact Tasks},
	journal={{IEEE} Transactions on Robotics ({T-RO})},
	year={2024},
	volume={40},
	pages={1966--1982},
	doi={10.1109/TRO.2024.3365993}
}
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