Imitation Learning of Bimanual Manipulation Skills Considering Both Position and Force Trajectory

Abstract

Large workspace and strong grasping force are required when a robot manipulates big and/or heavy objects. In that situation, bimanual manipulation is more useful than unimanual manipulation. However, the control of both hands to manipulate an object requires a more complex model compared to unimanual manipulation. Learning by human demonstration is a useful technique for a robot to learn a model. In this paper, we propose an imitation learning method of bimanual object manipulation by human demonstrations. For robust imitation of bimanual object manipulation, movement trajectories of two hands are encoded as a movement trajectory of the object and a force trajectory to grasp the object. The movement trajectory of the object is modeled by using the framework of dynamic movement primitives, which represent demonstrated movements with a set of goal-directed dynamic equations. The force trajectory to grasp an object is also modeled as a dynamic equation with an adjustable force term. These equations have an adjustable force term, where locally weighted regression and multiple linear regression methods are employed, to imitate complex non-linear movements of human demonstrations. In order to show the effectiveness our proposed method, a movement skill of pick-and-place in simulation environment is shown.