Physical Property Estimation and Knife Trajectory Optimization During Robotic Cutting

Abstract

Dexterous robotic cutting needs to demonstrate a skill level with smooth and efficient knife movements. The work performed by the knife mainly generates fracture and overcomes the blade-material friction. This paper presents a recursive least-squares method that repeatedly estimates relevant physical parameters such as Poisson's ratio, fracture toughness, and coefficient of friction, all varying with the knife's movement when cutting a natural food, from force sensor readings. Furthermore, we show that these estimates can be used for generating the knife's trajectory on the fly to either maximize the ease of fracturing or to minimize the rate of work.