Contact state estimation for multi-finger robot hands using particle filters

US8280837B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignees

• GM GLOBAL TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS LLC · US
• The United State of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics Space Administration · US

Inventors

• Robert Platt · Houston, US
• Frank Noble Permenter · Cambridge, US
• Craig M. Corcoran · Bellaire, US
• Charles W. Wampler, II · Birmingham, US

Key dates

• Filing date: May 28, 2009
• Grant date: Oct 2, 2012
• Expiry date: Nov 15, 2030

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G05B2219/40606
• WIPO field: Handling
• WIPO sector: Mechanical engineering

Abstract

A method for identifying the location, orientation and shape of an object that a robot hand touches that includes using a particle filter. The method includes defining an appropriate motion model and a measurement model. The motion model characterizes the motion of the robot hand as it moves relative to the object. The measurement model estimates the likelihood of an observation of contact position, velocity and tactile sensor information given hand-object states. The measurement model is approximated analytically based on a geometric model or based on a corpus of training data. In either case, the measurement model distribution is encoded as a Gaussian or using radial basis functions.