Tactile-Based Robotic Manipulation of Linear Deformable Objects (DLOs)

Institute

Munich Institute of Robotics and Machine Intelligence

Type

Bachelor's Thesis / Semester Thesis / Master's Thesis /

Content

experimental / theoretical /  

Description

Background and Motivation:

Deformable Linear Objects (DLOs), such as cables are ubiquitous in industrial automation, household robotics, and service applications. Unlike rigid objects, DLOs introduce complex challenges due to their high flexibility, infinite degrees of freedom, and sensitivity to external forces. Accurate manipulation of DLOs is critical for tasks like cable routing in automotive manufacturing, wire harness assembly, or even household chores such as untangling earphones. Traditional robotic manipulation approaches often fall short when dealing with DLOs because they rely heavily on visual sensing alone. Visual feedback is prone to occlusions and limited in capturing fine details like contact forces or subtle deformations. To overcome these limitations, tactile sensing has emerged as a promising complementary modality. By integrating tactile feedback, robots can gain local contact information, improving their ability to model, estimate, and control the dynamic behavior of DLOs in real-time.

 

Research Objectives:
This thesis aims to investigate and develop novel methods for the tactile-based robotic manipulation (Robotische Manipulation) of linear deformable objects. The main objectives include:

• Designing a framework for integrating tactile sensing with robotic manipulators for DLO handling.
• Developing real-time state estimation techniques that fuse tactile and visual information.
• Exploring collaborative manipulation strategies, either using multiple robotic arms or leveraging environmental constraints, to achieve desired DLO shapes reliably.
• Validating the proposed methods through practical experiments on tasks such as cable routing, knot tying, or shape formation.

Requirements

Prerequisites

• Interests in robotics, control and machine learning (Robotik, Regelungstechnik und Maschinelles Lernen)
• Excellent mathematic knowledge with good C++ programming and simulation skills

What We Offer:
You will gain hands-on experience with a real Franka robotic arm(s), vision systems and tactile sensors. The project also offers the possibility to publish your results in a leading robotics conference, depending on the outcome.

Application

Interested applicants should send the CV, academic transcripts, and previous experiences (if any)  via email to hamid.sadeghian(at)tum.de and yu.li(at)tum.de  

References

[1] Chen, Kejia; Bing, Zhenshan; Wu, Fan; Meng, Yuan; Kraft, Andre; Haddadin, Sami; Knoll, Alois, ”Contact-aware Shaping and Maintenance of Deformable Linear Objects With Fixtures”, 2023 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2023

[2] J. Zhu, B. Navarro, R. Passama, P. Fraisse, A. Crosnier, and A. Cherubini, “Robotic manipulation planning for shaping deformable linear objects with environmental contacts,” IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 16–23, 2019

Possible start

sofort

Contact

Yu Li
yu.litum.de