Multi-Robot Manipulation

Guilherme Pereira and Vijay Kumar

We address the problem of transporting objects by multiple mobile robots using the concept of object closure. In contrast to other manipulation techniques that are typically derived from form or force closure constraints, object closure requires the less stringent condition that the object be trapped or caged by the robots. In other words, although it may have some freedom to move, it cannot be completely removed. Since this technique departs from approaches that require a relatively high degree of precision in relative positions and orientations for grasping it results in a more robust approach to manipulation. In our approach, robots use decentralized controllers to move while achieving and maintaining object closure. Because the controllers are decentralized, the approach scales to multiple robots and large objects.