Robotic Contact Juggling
This work addresses robotic contact juggling, a specific challenge in robotics for precise object manipulation, but it is incremental as it builds on prior examples with a more general approach.
The paper tackles the problem of controlling the motion of a 3D smooth object rolling freely on a robot manipulator, providing the first general formulation and solution method for arbitrary objects and hands, with results demonstrated in simulation and experiment using high-speed vision feedback.
We define "robotic contact juggling" to be the purposeful control of the motion of a three-dimensional smooth object as it rolls freely on a motion-controlled robot manipulator, or "hand." While specific examples of robotic contact juggling have been studied before, in this paper we provide the first general formulation and solution method for the case of an arbitrary smooth object in single-point rolling contact on an arbitrary smooth hand. Our formulation splits the problem into four subproblems: (1) deriving the second-order rolling kinematics; (2) deriving the three-dimensional rolling dynamics; (3) planning rolling motions that satisfy the rolling dynamics; and (4) feedback stabilization of planned rolling trajectories. The theoretical results are demonstrated in simulation and experiment using feedback from a high-speed vision system.