Linear Delta Arrays for Compliant Dexterous Distributed Manipulation

July 2023

Linear Delta Arrays for Compliant Dexterous Distributed Manipulation

Authors:

Sarvesh Patil; Tony Tao; Tess Hellebrekers; Oliver Kroemer; F. Zeynep Temel
Conference Paper
Proceedings of (ICRA) International Conference on Robotics and Automation

Abstract:

This paper presents a new type of distributed dexterous manipulator: delta arrays. Our delta array setup consists of 64 linearly-actuated delta robots with 3D-printed compliant linkages. Through the design of the individual delta robots, the modular array structure, and distributed communication and control, we study a wide range of in-plane and out-of-plane manipulations, as well as prehensile manipulations among subsets of neighboring delta robots. We also demonstrate dexterous manipulation capabilities of the delta array using reinforcement learning while leveraging compliance. Our evaluations show that the resulting 192 DoF compliant robot is capable of performing various coordinated distributed manipulations of a variety of objects, including translation, alignment, prehensile squeezing, lifting, and grasping.
@conference{Patil-2023-136868,
author = {Sarvesh Patil; Tony Tao; Tess Hellebrekers; Oliver Kroemer; F. Zeynep Temel},
title = {Linear Delta Arrays for Compliant Dexterous Distributed Manipulation},
booktitle = {Proceedings of (ICRA) International Conference on Robotics and Automation},
year = {2023},
month = {July},
pages = {10324-10330},
publisher = {IEEE Explore},
keywords = {Multi-Robot Systems, Soft Robot Applica- tions, Dexterous Manipulation},
}
Copyright notice: This material is presented to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work. Copyright and all rights therein are retained by authors or by other copyright holders. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author's copyright. These works may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder.