Robotic object recognition and grasping with a natural background

Abstract

In this article, a novel, efficient grasp synthesis method is introduced that can be used for closed-loop robotic grasping. Using only a single monocular camera, the proposed approach can detect contour information from an image in real time and then determine the precise position of an object to be grasped by matching its contour with a given template. This approach is much lighter than the currently prevailing methods, especially vision-based deep-learning techniques, in that it requires no prior training. With the use of the state-of-the-art techniques of edge detection, superpixel segmentation, and shape matching, our visual servoing method does not rely on accurate camera calibration or position control and is able to adapt to dynamic environments. Experiments show that the approach provides high levels of compliance, performance, and robustness under diverse experiment environments.