A measurement model for tracking hand-object state during dexterous manipulation

It is frequently accepted in the manipulation literature that tactile sensing is needed to improve the precision of robot manipulation. However, there is no consensus on how this may be achieved. This paper applies particle filtering to the problem of localizing the pose and shape of an object that the robot touches. We are motivated by the situation where the robot has enclosed its fingers around an object but has not yet grasped it. This might be the case just prior to grasping or when the robot is holding on to something fixtured elsewhere in the environment. In order to solve this problem, we propose a new model for position measurements of points on the robot manipulator that tactile sensing indicates are touching the object. We also propose a model for points on the manipulator that tactile measurements indicate are not touching the object. Finally, we characterize the approach in simulation and use it to localize an object that Robonaut 2 holds in its hand.