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Faculty
Candidate COLLOQUIUM
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Sensitive
Manipulation Eduardo Torres-Jara Post-Doctoral Associate, MIT Computer Science and Robotics Engineering Faculty Candidate
Friday,
March 19, 2010 Abstract: This talk presents an alternative approach to robotic
manipulation. In our approach, manipulation is mainly guided by tactile feedback
as opposed to vision. The motivation behind this approach stems from the fact
that manipulating an object necessarily implies coming into contact with
it. As a result, directly sensing physical contact seems more important
than vision to control the interaction of the object and the robot. In this
work, the traditional approach of a highly precise arm guided by a vision
system is replaced by one that uses a low mechanical impedance arm with dense
tactile sensing and exploration capabilities. The robots OBRERO and GoBot have been built to implement this approach. We have developed a novel tactile sensing technology and mounted our sensors on the robots' hands. These sensors are biologically inspired and present adequate features for manipulation. The success of this approach is shown by picking up objects in a poorly modeled environment. This task, simple for humans, has been a challenge for robots. The robot can deal with new, unmodeled objects. Specifically, OBRERO can gently contact, explore, lift, and place an object in a different location. It can also detect basic slippage and external forces acting on an object while it is held. These tasks can be performed successfully with very light objects, without fixtures, and on slippery surfaces. Similarly, GoBot is capable of manipulating small objects such as the stones in the game GO. Both OBRERO and GoBot perform all of their manipulations using tactile feedback. ______ Eduardo
Torres-Jara is currently a Post-Doctoral Associate at the MIT Computer Science
and Artificial Intelligence Lab and the Harvard Microrobotics Lab. He graduated with his PhD from MIT in 2007
where he developed "Sensitive Manipulation," an approach to robotic
manipulation based on tactile feedback. A key step in implementing this approach
was his development of a compliant tactile sensors patented by MIT. Sensitive
manipulation was implemented in two robots develop by Dr. Torres-Jara, Obrero
and GoBot, that showed the advantages of tactile sensing to perform whole
body and precision grasps. Currently, he is working on an alternative actuation
method for small robots. An initial step has been the development of a
flexible and powerful actuator based on Shape Memory Alloy sheets. Dr. Torres-Jara is also interested in the process of technology
innovation and is currently organizing a collaboration program between MIT
and several South American countries. Before attending MIT, Dr. Torres-Jara co-founded three
startups in his native country Ecuador in the areas of software, telecommunications,
and electronic hardware. Host: Prof.
Michael Gennert Refreshments will be served. |
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