Planning and Control of Indirect Simultaneous Positioning Operation of Deformable Objects

A novel controi method for positioning operations of deformable objects will be presented. In many manipulative operations of deformable objects, it is required to guide multiple points on an object simultaneously. Moreover, the points often cannot be manipulated directly. A model of the manipulated deformable object is essential to perform these operations. It is, however, dificult to build a precise model of a deformable object. Thus, we need a new control scheme that allows us to perform the operations successfully despite of discrepancy between a manipulated deformable object and its model. In this paper, we will introduce a coarse model of a deformable object and will develop a new control law for its positioning operation. First, we will propose a mathematical model of deformable objects for their positioning operations. Second, indirect simultaneous positioning operations of deformable objects is formulated. Then, we will propose a novel iterative control method to realize a given positioning operation. The validity of the proposed method and the effect of model errors to the operation will be examined through experiments using textile fabrics. Experimental results show that coarse model of deformable objects is eflective to their positioning operations. Finally, we will discuss on the locations of robotic jingers, which apply forces to a manipulated object.