© Felix Noak
Robotics and Biology Laboratory
Dexterous and Sensorized Soft Robotic Hands
Contact
Project Description
Inspired by human grasping and manipulation capabilities, we will build anthropomorphic soft robotic hands that also act as a sensor to enable robust interactions with the environment. Since they are made of soft materials, their morphology adapts to the environment which increases robustness and safety for human-robot interaction.
Our hands will exhibit a high degree of dexterity. To this end, we will construct a new type of opposable thumb based on novel pneumatic actuators which also allows for abduction of the fingers. These advances will enable our hands to perform a large variety of manipulation tasks. To observe and react to interactions with the object and the environment, we will equip the hands with sensors. The inherent compliance prevents the use of traditional sensors technologies. We will therefore develop new sensor technologies to sensorize highly compliant actuators with many degrees of freedom. This will include fabric based sensors to obtain tactile information, soft strain sensors for proprioception, and acoustic sensors that detect contact events.
To further increase the robustness of soft hands, we will devise control methods that reduce perceptual, model, and motion uncertainty through haptic feedback. We will also develop control strategies that actively extract haptic information from the environment, for example sliding a finger over a surface to determine its friction properties.
Funding
This project is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany's Excellence Strategy - EXC 2002/1 "Science of Intelligence" - project number 390523135.
Publications
2023
Wall,
Vincent;
Zöller,
Gabriel;
Brock,
Oliver
Passive and Active Acoustic Sensing for Soft Pneumatic Actuators
The International Journal of Robotics Research, 42 :108-122
2023
Passive and Active Acoustic Sensing for Soft Pneumatic Actuators
The International Journal of Robotics Research, 42 :108-122
2023
2022
Wall,
Vincent;
Brock,
Oliver
A Virtual 2D Tactile Array for Soft Actuators Using Acoustic Sensing
Proceedings of IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)
Oktober 2022
A Virtual 2D Tactile Array for Soft Actuators Using Acoustic Sensing
Proceedings of IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)
Oktober 2022
2021
Bhatt,
Aditya;
Sieler,
Adrian;
Puhlmann,
Steffen;
Brock,
Oliver
Surprisingly Robust In-Hand Manipulation: An Empirical Study
Proceedings of Robotics: Science and Systems
Herausgeber: Virtual
Juli 2021
Surprisingly Robust In-Hand Manipulation: An Empirical Study
Proceedings of Robotics: Science and Systems
Herausgeber: Virtual
Juli 2021
