Planar Shape Control of Deformable Linear Objects

Abstract

Shape control of deformable linear objects (DLOs) is an open challenge, due to the difficulty in predicting the behavior of the DLOs during the manipulation. In this paper, we propose a new approach to achieve the shape control of a DLO grasped by two robotic manipulators on a plane. The proposed approach models the DLO as a set of points. Then it derives the Jacboian matrix that maps the velocity from the robots end-effectors to the DLO points. Moreover, A strategy to maintain the DLO length constraint during the manipulation is developed to avoid excessive stretching. The new algorithm is tested in simulation environment for different desired shapes. The experiments results prove the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed algorithm to place the DLO into the new shape.