Robotic ironing with 3D perception and force/torque feedback in household environments

Abstract

Abstract-As robotic systems become more popular in household environments, the complexity of required tasks also increases. In this work we focus on a domestic chore deemed dull by a majority of the population, the task of ironing. The presented algorithm improves on the limited number of previous works by joining 3D perception with force/torque sensing, with emphasis on finding a practical solution with a feasible implementation in a domestic setting. Our algorithm obtains a point cloud representation of the working environment. From this point cloud, the garment is segmented and a custom Wrinkleness Local Descriptor (WiLD) is computed to determine the location of the present wrinkles. Using this descriptor, the most suitable ironing path is computed and, based on it, the manipulation algorithm performs the force-controlled ironing operation. Experiments have been performed with a humanoid robot platform, proving that our algorithm is able to detect successfully wrinkles present in garments and iteratively reduce the wrinkleness using an unmodified iron.

Static Stability of Robotic Fabric Strip Folding

“…The study of the garment behaviour is necessary for predicting the garment state accurately. The analysis of the behaviour was performed for various tasks including garment drying [4], flattening and ironing [5]- [8], or folding [9]. A garment manipulation is analysed in our study.…”

Towards Clothes Hanging via Cloth Simulation and Deep Convolutional Networks

“…If the wrinkles are small and marked, the robot has to iron them. While some approaches target individual wrinkles in very controlled illumination conditions [9], other use a human-inspired ironing method based on force control and a garment surface analysis [6]. When all the wrinkles have been removed, the only remaining step is to fold the garment.…”

What the Near Future of Artificial Intelligence Could Be

“…In 2012, a team at Carlos III University of Madrid, Spain, built TEO, a robot that weighs about 80 kg and is 1.8 m tall. TEO can climb stairs, open doors and, more recently, has been shown to be able to iron shirts (Estevez et al 2017), although you have to put the item on the ironing board. The view, quite widespread, is that 'TEO is built to do what humans do as humans do it,' says team member Juan Victores at Carlos III University of Madrid.…”