Static Stability of Robotic Fabric Strip Folding [article]

Vladimír Petrík, Vladimír Smutný, Ville Kyrki
2019 arXiv   pre-print
Planning accurate manipulation for deformable objects requires prediction of their state. The prediction is often complicated by a loss of stability that may result in collapse of the deformable object. In this work, stability of a fabric strip folding performed by a robot is studied. We show that there is a static instability in the folding process. This instability is detected in a physics-based simulation and the position of the instability is verified experimentally by real robotic
more » ... ion. Three state-of-the-art methods for folding are assessed in the presence of static instability. It is shown that one of the existing folding paths is suitable for folding of materials with internal friction such as fabrics. Another folding path that utilizes dynamic motion exists for ideal elastic materials without internal friction. Our results show that instability needs to be considered in planning to obtain accurate manipulation of deformable objects.
arXiv:1902.11021v1 fatcat:g2m7vhuzgrbglazhooid5lreoa