Shape control of a deformable object by multiple manipulators

Shape control of a deformable object by a robotic system is a challenging problem because of the difficulty of imposing shape change by a finite number actuation points to an essentially infinite dimensional object. In this paper, a new approach to shape changing of deformable objects by a system of manipulators is presented. First, an integrated dynamic equation of motion for a system of multiple manipulators handling a deformable object is developed. The initial and the final shapes of the deformable object are specified by curves that represent the boundary of the object. We design an optimization-based planner that minimizes an energy-like criterion to determine the locations of the contact points on the desired curve representing the final shape of the object. The motion of each manipulator is controlled independently without any communication between them. The simulation results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed method.