Tactile Perception of Object Properties TU Darmstadt, Germany July 2022 - Ongoing Collaborators: Alap Kshirsagar (TU Darmstadt), Lisa P. Y. Lin (JLU Gießen), Boris Belousov (DFKI SAIROL), Tim Schneider (TU Darmstadt), Katja Doershner (JLU Gießen), Knut Drewing (JLU Gießen) and Jan Peters (TU Darmstadt)

A key challenge in robotics is accurately perceiving the properties of objects, and touch plays a vital role in this process. In this project, we explore techniques for robotic perception of object properties, such as texture and hardness, using Vision-Based Tactile Sensors (VBTS). VBTS offer a cost-effective, high-resolution alternative to conventional tactile sensors by leveraging advancements in camera technology and computer vision. Additionally, we examine the exploratory procedures humans employ to identify object properties through touch, using these insights to develop robotic exploratory procedures and active sampling techniques for tactile perception of object properties.

Publications

Nguyen, D.H., Schneider, T., Duret, G., Kshirsagar, A., Belousov, B., & Peters, J., TacEx: GelSight Tactile Simulation in Isaac Sim – Combining Soft-Body and Visuotactile Simulators, Workshop on Learning Robot Fine and Dexterous Manipulation: Perception and Control at Conference on Robot Learning (CoRL), 2024

Kshirsagar, A., Heller, F., G´omez Andreu, M., Belousov, B., Schneider, T., Lin, L. P. Y., Doerschner, K., Drewing, K., & Peters, J., Hardness Similarity Detection Using Vision-Based Tactile Sensors, 40th Anniversary of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA@40), 2024

Lin, L., Boehm, A., Belousov, B., Kshirsagar, A., Schneider, T., Peters, J., Doerschner, K., & Drewing, K. , Task-Adapted Single-Finger Explorations of Complex Objects, Eurohaptics Conference, 2024

Boehm, A., Schneider, T., Belousov, B., Kshirsagar, A., Lin, L., Doerschner, K., Drewing, K., Rothkopf, C.A., & Peters, J., What Matters for Active Texture Recognition With Vision-Based Tactile Sensors, IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2024

Boehm, A., Schneider, T., Belousov, B., Kshirsagar, A., Lin, L., Doerschner, K., Drewing, K., Rothkopf, C.A., & Peters, J., Tactile Active Texture Recognition With Vision-Based Tactile Sensors, NeurIPS Workshop on Touch Processing: a new Sensing Modality for AI, 2023