@article {3717, title = {Analysis of series elasticity in locomotion of a planar bipedal robot}, journal = { INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MECHANICS AND CONTROL}, year = {2019}, author = {S. Manara and G M Gasparri and M. Garabini and D. Caporale and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @article {3638, title = {Dynamic Morphological Computation Through Damping Design of Soft Continuum Robots}, journal = {Frontiers in Robotics and AI}, year = {2019}, author = {A. Di Lallo and M. G. Catalano and M. Garabini and G. Grioli and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @article {3214, title = { Enhancing Adaptive Grasping Through a Simple Sensor-Based Reflex Mechanism }, journal = {IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters}, volume = {2}, year = {2017}, month = {07/2017}, pages = {1664 - 1671}, abstract = {

This paper presents an approach to achieve adaptive grasp of unknown objects whose position is only approximately known via point-cloud data. We exploit the adaptability of a soft robotic hand which can autonomously conform to the shape of a grasped object if properly approached. Once a grasp approach has been preliminarily planned based only on rough estimates of the object position, the hand is shaped to a pregrasp configuration. Before closing the hand, a sensor-based algorithm is applied that corrects the relative hand-object posture so as to enhance the probability that the object is uniformly approached by all fingers, thus avoiding undesired premature contacts. The algorithm minimizes the distance between the hand{\textquoteright}s fingerpads and the object by continuously controlling both the wrist pose and orientation and the hand closure. Experimental studies with a Kuka-LWR arm and a Pisa/IIT Softhand illustrate the benefit of the developed technique and the improvement in grasping performance with respect to open-loop execution of grasps planned on the basis of prior RGB-D cues only.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/LRA.2017.2681122}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7875417/}, author = {Luberto, E. and Y. Wu and G. Santaera and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @conference {3390, title = {Parametric Trajectory Libraries for Online Motion Planning with Application to Soft Robots}, booktitle = {18th International Symposium on Robotics Research}, year = {2017}, abstract = {

In this paper we propose a method for online motion planning of constrained nonlinear systems. The method consists of three steps: the offline generation of a library of parametric trajectories via direct trajectory optimization, the online search in the library for the best candidate solution to the optimal control problem we aim to solve, and the online refinement of this trajectory. The last phase of this process takes advantage of a sensitivity-like analysis and guarantees to comply with the first-order approximation of the constraints even in case of active set changes. Efficiency of the trajectory generation process is discussed and a valid strategy to minimize online computations is proposed; together with this, an effective procedure for searching the candidate trajectory is also presented. As a case study, we examine optimal control of a planar soft manipulator performing a pick-and-place task: through simulations and experiments, we show how crucial online computation times are to achieve considerable energy savings in the presence of variability of the task to perform.

}, author = {T. Marcucci and M. Garabini and Gasparri, G. M. and Alessio Artoni and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @proceedings {2992, title = {Towards Minimum-Information Adaptive Controllers for Robot Manipulators}, year = {2017}, publisher = {IEEE}, address = {May 24{\textendash}26 2017, Seattle USA}, abstract = {

The aim of this paper is to move a step in the direction of determining the minimum amount of information needed to control a robot manipulator within the framework of adaptive control. Recent innovations in the state of the art show how global asymptotic trajectory tracking can be achieved despite the presence of uncertainties in the kinematic and dynamic models of the robot. However, a clear distinction between
which parameters can be included among the uncertainties, and which parameters can not, has not been drawn yet. Since most of the adaptive control algorithms are built on linearly parameterized models, we propose to reformulate the problem as finding a procedure to determine whether and how a given dynamical system can be linearly parameterized with respect to a specific set of parameters.
Within this framework, we show how the trajectory tracking problem of a manipulator can be accomplished with the only knowledge of the number of joints of the manipulator. As an illustrative example, we present the end-effector trajectory tracking control of a robot initialized with the kinematic model of a different robot.

}, keywords = {Robotics}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.23919/ACC.2017.7963602}, url = {https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7963602}, author = {T. Marcucci and C. Della Santina and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @inbook {2886, title = {From Soft to Adaptive Synergies: The Pisa/IIT SoftHand}, booktitle = {Human and Robot Hands}, volume = {Springer Series on Touch and Haptic Systems}, year = {2016}, publisher = {Springer}, organization = {Springer}, chapter = {101 - 125}, abstract = {

Taking inspiration from the neuroscientific findings on hand synergies discussed in the first part of the book, in this chapter we present the Pisa/IIT SoftHand, a novel robot hand prototype. The design moves under the guidelines of making an hardware robust and easy to control, preserving an high level of grasping capabilities and an aspect as similar as possible to the human counterpart. First, the main theoretical tools used to enable such simplification are presented, as for example the notion of soft synergies. A discussion of some possible actuation schemes shows that a straightforward implementation of the soft synergy idea in an effective design is not trivial. The proposed approach, called adaptive synergy, rests on ideas coming from underactuated hand design, offering a design method to implement the desired set of soft synergies as demonstrated both with simulations and experiments. As a particular instance of application of the synthesis method of adaptive synergies, the Pisa/IIT SoftHand is described in detail. The hand has 19 joints, but only uses one actuator to activate its adaptive synergy. Of particular relevance in its design is the very soft and safe, yet powerful and extremely robust structure, obtained through the use of innovative articulations and ligaments replacing conventional joint design. Moreover, in this work, summarizing results presented in previous papers, a discussion is presented about how a new set of possibilities is open from paradigm shift in manipulation approaches, moving from manipulation with rigid to soft hands.

}, issn = {978-3-319-26705-0}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-26706-7_8}, author = {M. G. Catalano and G. Grioli and E. Farnioli and A. Serio and M. Bonilla and M. Garabini and C. Piazza and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @article {2652, title = {Hand synergies: Integration of robotics and neuroscience for understanding the control of biological and artificial hands}, journal = {Physics of Life Reviews}, volume = {17}, year = {2016}, month = {07/2016}, pages = {1-23}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1571064516000269}, author = {M. Santello and M. Bianchi and M Gabiccini and E. Ricciardi and G. Salvietti and D Prattichizzo and M. Ernst and A. Moscatelli and H. Jorntell and A. Kappers and K. Kyriakopulos and A Albu-Schaeffer and C. Castellini and A. Bicchi} } @article {2724, title = {On the Problem of Moving Objects With Autonomous Robots: A Unifying High-Level Planning Approach}, journal = {IEEE ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATION LETTERS}, volume = {1}, year = {2016}, month = {01/2016}, pages = {469-476}, abstract = {

Moving objects with autonomous robots is a wide topic that includes single-arm pick-and-place tasks, object regrasping, object passing between two or more arms in the air or using support surfaces such as tables and similar. Each task has been extensively studied and many planning solutions are already present in the literature. In this letter, we present a planning scheme which, based on the use of pre-defined elementary manipulation skills, aims to unify solutions which are usually obtained by means of different planning strategies rooted on hardcoded behaviors. Both robotic manipulators and environment fixed support surfaces are treated as end-effectors of movable and non-movable types, respectively. The task of the robot can thus be broken down into elementary building blocks, which are endeffector manipulation skills, that are then planned at the kinematic level. Feasibility is ensured by propagating unforeseen low-level failures at the higher level and by synthesizing different behaviors. The validity of the proposed solution is shown via experiments on a bimanual robot setup and in simulations involving a more complex setup similar to an assembly line.

}, keywords = {Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/LRA.2016.2519149}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=\&arnumber=7384694}, author = {H. Marino and M. Ferrati and A Settimi and C. Rosales and M Gabiccini} } @inbook {2888, title = {Quasi-Static Analysis of Synergistically Underactuated Robotic Hands in Grasping and Manipulation Tasks}, booktitle = {Human and Robot Hands}, volume = {Springer Series on Touch and Haptic Systems}, year = {2016}, note = {

This work was supported by the European Commission under the CP-IP grant
no. 248587 {\textquotedblleft}THE Hand Embodied{\textquotedblright}, within the FP7-2007-2013 program, by the
grant no. 600918 {\textquotedblleft}PaCMan{\textquotedblright} - Probabilistic and Compositional Representations of
Objects for Robotic Manipulation - within the FP7-ICT-2011-9 program, the grant
no. 611832 {\textquotedblleft}Walk-Man{\textquotedblright} within the FP7-ICT-2013-10 program, and the grant no.
645599 {\textquotedblleft}SOMA: Soft-bodied Intelligence for Manipulation{\textquotedblright}, funded under H2020-
EU-2115.

}, pages = {211-233}, publisher = {Springer}, organization = {Springer}, abstract = {

As described in Chaps.\ 2{\textendash}5, neuroscientific studies showed that the control of the human hand is mainly realized in a synergistic way. Recently, taking inspiration from this observation, with the aim of facing the complications consequent to the high number of degrees of freedom, similar approaches have been used for the control of robotic hands. As Chap.\ 12 describes SynGrasp, a useful technical tool for grasp analysis of synergy-inspired hands, in this chapter recently developed analysis tools for studying robotic hands equipped with soft synergy underactuation (see Chap.\ 8) are exhaustively described under a theoretical point of view. After a review of the quasi-static model of the system, the Fundamental Grasp Matrix (FGM) and its canonical form (cFGM) are presented, from which it is possible to extract relevant information as, for example, the subspaces of the controllable internal forces, of the controllable object displacements and the grasp compliance. The definitions of some relevant types of manipulation tasks (e.g. the pure squeeze, realized maintaining the object configuration fixed but changing contact forces, or the kinematic grasp displacements, in which the grasped object can be moved without modifying contact forces) are provided in terms of nullity or non-nullity of the variables describing the system. The feasibility of such predefined tasks can be verified thanks to a decomposition method, based on the search of the row reduced echelon form (RREF) of suitable portions of the solution space. Moreover, a geometric interpretation of the FGM and the possibility to extend the above mentioned methods to the study of robotic hands with different types of underactuation are discussed. Finally, numerical results are presented for a power grasp example, the analysis of which is initially performed for the case of fully-actuated hand, and later verifying, after the introduction of a synergistic underactuation, which capacities of the system are lost, and which other are still present.

}, issn = {978-3-319-26705-0}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-26706-7_13}, author = {E. Farnioli and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @article {2660, title = {A synergy-based hand control is encoded in human motor cortical areas}, journal = {eLIFE}, year = {2016}, abstract = {

How the human brain controls hand movements to carry out different tasks is still debated. The concept of\ synergy\ has been proposed to indicate functional modules that may simplify the control of hand postures by simultaneously recruiting sets of muscles and joints. However, whether and to what extent synergic hand postures are encoded as such at a cortical level remains unknown. Here, we combined kinematic, electromyography, and brain activity measures obtained by functional magnetic resonance imaging while subjects performed a variety of movements towards virtual objects. Hand postural information, encoded through kinematic synergies, were represented in cortical areas devoted to hand motor control and successfully discriminated individual grasping movements, significantly outperforming alternative somatotopic or muscle-based models. Importantly, hand postural synergies were predicted by neural activation patterns within primary motor cortex. These findings support a novel cortical organization for hand movement control and open potential applications for brain-computer interfaces and neuroprostheses.

}, doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.13420}, url = {http://elifesciences.org/content/5/e13420v2}, author = {A. Leo and G. Handjaras and M. Bianchi and H. Marino and M Gabiccini and Guidi, A. and E. P. Scilingo and P. Pietrini and A. Bicchi and M. Santello and E. Ricciardi} } @conference {2883, title = {Toward whole-body loco-manipulation: Experimental results on multi-contact interaction with the Walk-Man robot}, booktitle = {IEEE International Conference of Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2016)}, year = {2016}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = {Danjeon, Korea, October 10-14 2016}, abstract = {

In this paper a quasi-static framework for optimally controlling the contact force distribution is experimentally verified with the full-size compliant humanoid robot Walk-Man. The proposed approach is general enough to cope with multi-contact scenarios, i.e. robot-environment interactions occurring on feet and hands, up to the more general case of whole-body loco-manipulation, in which the robot is in contact with the environment also with the internal limbs, with a consequent loss of contact force controllability. Experimental tests were conducted with the Walk-Man robot (i) standing on flat terrain, (ii) standing on uneven terrain and (iii) interacting with the environment with both feet and a hand touching a vertical wall. Moreover, the influence of unmodeled weight on the robot, and the combination with a higher priority Cartesian tasks are shown. Results are presented also in the attached video.

}, keywords = {Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/IROS.2016.7759225}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=7759225}, author = {E. Farnioli and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @conference {2465, title = {Grasp Planning with Soft Hands using Bounding Box Object Decomposition}, booktitle = {IEEE International Conference of Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS2015)}, year = {2015}, note = {

softhands pacman walkman

}, pages = {518 - 523}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = {Hamburg, Germany, September 28 - October 02, 2015}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/IROS.2015.7353421}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?arnumber=7353421\&queryText=Grasp\%20Planning\%20with\%20Soft\%20Hands\%20using\%20Bounding\%20Box\%20Object\%20Decomposition\&newsearch=true}, author = {M. Bonilla and D. Resasco and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @conference {2205, title = {Low-cost, Fast and Accurate Reconstruction of Robotic and Human Postures via IMU Measurements}, booktitle = {IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA2015)}, year = {2015}, note = {

softhands wearhap

}, pages = {2728 - 2735}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = {Seattle, USA, 25 - 30 May}, keywords = {Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/ICRA.2015.7139569}, author = {G. Santaera and Luberto, E. and A. Serio and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @conference {2337, title = {Optimal Contact Force Distribution for Compliant Humanoid Robots in Whole-Body Loco-Manipulation Tasks}, booktitle = {IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA2015)}, year = {2015}, pages = {5675 - 5681}, address = {Seattle, USA, 25 - 30 May}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/ICRA.2015.7139994}, author = {E. Farnioli and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @conference {2121, title = {Active gathering of frictional properties from objects}, booktitle = {Proc. IEEE/RSJ Intl Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2014)}, year = {2014}, pages = {3982 - 3987 }, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = {Chicago, USA}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/IROS.2014.6943122}, author = {C. Rosales and A. Ajoudani and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @conference {2232, title = {Grasping with Soft Hands}, booktitle = {IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots (HUMANOIDS 2014)}, year = {2014}, pages = {581 - 587}, address = {Madrid, Spain, November 18 - 20}, abstract = {

Despite some prematurely optimistic claims, the ability of robots to grasp general objects in unstructured environments still remains far behind that of humans. This is not solely caused by differences in the mechanics of hands: indeed, we show that human use of a simple robot hand (the Pisa/IIT SoftHand) can afford capabilities that are comparable to natural grasping. It is through the observation of such human-directed robot hand operations that we realized how fundamental in everyday grasping and manipulation is the role of hand compliance, which is used to adapt to the shape of surrounding objects. Objects and environmental constraints are in turn used to functionally shape the hand, going beyond its nominal kinematic limits by exploiting structural softness. In this paper, we set out to study grasp planning for hands that are simple {\textemdash} in the sense of low number of actuated degrees of freedom (one for the Pisa/IIT SoftHand) {\textemdash} but are soft, i.e. continuously deformable in an infinity of possible shapes through interaction with objects. After general considerations on the change of paradigm in grasp planning that this setting brings about with respect to classical rigid multi-dof grasp planning, we present a procedure to extract grasp affordances for the Pisa/IIT SoftHand through physically accurate numerical simulations. The selected grasps are then successfully tested in an experimental scenario.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/HUMANOIDS.2014.7041421}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?tp=\&arnumber=7041421\&queryText\%3DGrasping+with+Soft+Hands}, author = {M. Bonilla and E. Farnioli and C. Piazza and M. G. Catalano and G. Grioli and M. Garabini and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @inbook {1694, title = {HANDS.DVI: A DeVice-Independent programming and control framework for robotic HANDS}, booktitle = {Gearing up and accelerating cross-fertilization between academic and industrial robotics research in Europe - Technology transfer experiments from the ECHORD project}, volume = {94}, number = {Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics}, year = {2014}, pages = {197-215}, abstract = {

The scientific goal of HANDS.DVI consists of developing a common
framework to programming robotic hands independently from their kinematics,
mechanical construction, and sensor equipment complexity. Recent results on the
organization of the human hand in grasping and manipulation are the inspiration
for this experiment. The reduced set of parameters that we effectively use to control
our hands is known in the literature as the set of synergies. The synergistic
organization of the human hand is the theoretical foundation of the innovative approach
to design a unified framework for robotic hands control. Theoretical tools
have been studied to design a suitable mapping function of the control action (decomposed
in its elemental action) from a human hand model domain onto the
articulated robotic hand co-domain. The developed control framework has been
applied on an experimental set up consisting of two robotic hands with dissimilar
kinematics grasping an object instrumented with force sensors.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1007/978-3-319-02934-4_10}, author = {G. Salvietti and G. Gioioso and M. Malvezzi and D Prattichizzo and A. Serio and E. Farnioli and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi and I. Sarakoglou and N G Tsagarakis and D. G. Caldwell} } @conference {1983, title = {Natural Redundancy Resolution in Dual-Arm Manipulation using Configuration Dependent Stiffness (CDS) Control}, booktitle = {2014 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation}, year = {2014}, pages = {1480 - 1486}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = {Hong Kong, May 31 2014-June 7 2014 }, abstract = {

Incorporation of human motor control principles in the motion control architectures for humanoid robots or assistive and prosthesis devices will permit these systems not only to look anthropomorphic and natural at the body ware level but also to generate natural motion profiles resembling those executed by humans during manipulation and locomotion. In this work, relying on the observations on human bimanual coordination, a novel realtime motion control strategy is proposed to regulate the desired Cartesian stiffness profile during the execution of bimanual tasks. The novelty of the proposed control scheme relies on the use of common mode stiffness (CMS) and configuration dependent stiffness (CDS) to regulate the size and directionality of the task space stiffness ellipsoid. Thanks to the CDS control, the proposed scheme is not only proved to be effective in regulating the desired stiffness ellipsoid but also permits to resolve the manipulator redundancy in a natural manner. The effectiveness of the controller is evaluated in an experimental setup in which two cooperating robotic arms are executing an assembly task. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed dual-arm CDS-CMS controller is effective in tracking the desired stiffness ellipsoids as well as in producing human-like natural motions for the two robotic arms.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/ICRA.2014.6907047}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=\&arnumber=6945252}, author = {A. Ajoudani and N G Tsagarakis and J. Lee and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @conference {2120, title = {The Patched Intrinsic Tactile Object: a Tool to Investigate Human Grasps}, booktitle = {Proc. IEEE/RSJ Intl Conf. on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2014)}, year = {2014}, pages = {1261 - 1268}, address = {Chicago, USA}, abstract = {

In this paper we report on the development of a modular multi-DoF F/T sensor and its use in the implementation of a sensorized object capable of multi-touch detection. The sensor is composed of six 6-axis F/T sensors spatially organized on the faces of a cube. Different calibration methods are presented to directly tackle the coupling phenomena inherent to the spatial organization of the faces and the lightweight construction of the sensor which would have, otherwise, degraded its accuracy. To assess the performances of the calibration methods, a comparison is reported with respect to the measurements obtained with a commercial force/torque sensor considered as ground truth (ATI Delta). Thanks to the modular design and the possibility to cover the sensitive faces with surface patches of different geometry, a variety of sensorized objects with different shapes can be realized. The peculiar feature that all the components of the contact wrench can be measured on each face with high accuracy, renders it a unique tool in the study of grasp force distribution in humans, with envisioned use both in neuroscience investigations and robotic applications.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/IROS.2014.6942719}, author = {A. Serio and E. Riccomini and V. Tartaglia and I. Sarakoglou and M Gabiccini and N G Tsagarakis and A. Bicchi} } @conference {2084, title = {The tactile toolbox}, booktitle = {Haptics Symposium (HAPTICS), 2014 IEEE}, year = {2014}, address = {Houston, TX}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/HAPTICS.2014.6775573}, author = {A. Serio and M. Bianchi and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @conference {2307, title = { Three-digit grasp haptic device with variable contact stiffness for rehabilitation and human grasping studies}, booktitle = {22nd Mediterranean Conference of Control and Automation (MED) 2014 }, year = {2014}, pages = {346 - 350}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = {Palermo, Italy, 16-19 June 2014 }, abstract = {

This paper describes an haptic system designed to vary the stiffness of three contact points in an independent and controllable fashion, by suitably regulating the inner pressure of three pneumatic tactile displays. At the same time, the contact forces exerted by the user are measured by six degree-of-freedom force sensors placed under each finger. This device might be profitably used in hand rehabilitation and human grasping studies. We report and discuss preliminary results on device validation as well as some illustrative measurement examples.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/MED.2014.6961395}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=\&arnumber=6961395}, author = {Altobelli, A and M. Bianchi and A. Serio and Baud-Bovy, G and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @conference {1941, title = {A data-driven kinematic model of the human hand with soft-tissue artifact compensation mechanism for grasp synergy analysis}, booktitle = {IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS)}, year = {2013}, pages = {3738 - 3745}, address = {Tokyo, Japan}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/IROS.2013.6696890 }, author = {M Gabiccini and G. Stillfried and H. Marino and M. Bianchi} } @article {1821, title = {Grasp Analysis Tools for Synergistic Underactuated Robotic Hands}, journal = {International Journal of Robotic Reasearch}, volume = {32}, year = {2013}, month = {11/2013}, pages = {1553 - 1576}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {M Gabiccini and E. Farnioli and A. Bicchi} } @conference {1706, title = {Grasp Compliance Regulation in Synergistically Controlled Robotic Hands with VSA}, booktitle = {IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, IROS 2013}, year = {2013}, month = {November 3-7}, pages = {3015 -3022}, address = {Tokyo, Japan}, keywords = {Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/IROS.2013.6696783 }, author = {E. Farnioli and M Gabiccini and M. Bonilla and A. Bicchi} } @conference {1434, title = {Human-Like Impedance and Minimum Effort Control for Natural and Efficient Manipulation}, booktitle = {IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA2013)}, year = {2013}, pages = {4499 - 4505}, keywords = {Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/ICRA.2013.6631216 }, author = {A. Ajoudani and M Gabiccini and N G Tsagarakis and A. Bicchi} } @article {1683, title = {On Motion and Force Controllability of Precision Grasps with Hands Actuated by Soft Synergies}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Robotics}, volume = {29}, year = {2013}, month = {12/2013}, pages = {1440 - 1456 }, abstract = {

To adapt to many different objects and tasks, hands are very complex systems with many degrees of freedom (DoFs), sensors, and actuators. In robotics, such complexity comes at the cost of size and weight of the hardware of devices, but it strongly affects also the ease of their programming. A possible approach to simplification consists in coupling some of the DOFs, thus affording a reduction of the number of effective inputs, and eventually leading to more efficient, simpler, and reliable designs. Such coupling can be at the software level, to achieve faster, more intuitive programmability or at the hardware level, through either rigid or compliant physical couplings between joints. Physical coupling between actuators and simplification of control through the reduction of independent inputs is also an often-reported interpretation of human hand movement data, where studies have demonstrated that few {\textquotedblleft}postural synergies{\textquotedblright} explain most of the variance in hand configurations used to grasp different objects. Together with beneficial simplifications, the reduction of the number of independent inputs to a few coupled motions or {\textquotedblleft}synergies{\textquotedblright} has also an impact on the ability of the hand to dexterously control grasp forces and in-hand manipulation. This paper aims to develop tools that establish how many synergies should be involved in a grasp to guarantee stability and efficiency, depending on the task and on the hand embodiment. Through the analysis of a quasi-static model, grasp structural properties related to contact force and object motion controllability are defined. Different compliant sources are considered, for a generalization of the discussion. In particular, a compliant model for synergies assumed, referred to as {\textquotedblleft}soft synergies,{\textquotedblright} is discussed. The controllable internal forces and motions of the grasped object are related to the actuated inputs. This paper investigates to what extent a hand with many joints can ex- loit postural synergies to control force and motion of the grasped object.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/TRO.2013.2273849}, author = {D Prattichizzo and M. Malvezzi and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @conference {1398, title = {Calibration and Test of a Multi-Touch Tactile Object}, booktitle = {International Conference of Intelligent Robots and Systems - IROS 2012}, year = {2012}, address = {Algrave, Portugal}, keywords = {Robotics}, author = {A. Serio and M Gabiccini and I. Sarakoglou and A. Bicchi} } @conference {FGB12, title = {Grasp and Manipulation Analysis for Synergistic Underactuated Hands Under General Loading Conditions}, booktitle = {International Conference of Robotics and Automation - ICRA 2012}, year = {2012}, month = {May 14 - 18}, pages = {2836 - 2842}, address = {Saint Paul, MN, USA}, keywords = {Robotics}, author = {M Gabiccini and E. Farnioli and A. Bicchi} } @article {PMGB11, title = {On the Manipulability Ellipsoids of Underactuated Robotic Hands with Compliance Robotics and Autonomous Systems}, journal = {Robotics and Autonomous Systems, special issue on Autonomous Grasping}, volume = {60}, year = {2012}, note = {

in press, Available online 17 August 2011

}, pages = {337 - 346}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1016/j.robot.2011.07.014}, author = {D Prattichizzo and M. Malvezzi and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @conference {RSGB12, title = {On the Synthesis of Feasible and Prehensile Robotic Grasps}, booktitle = {International Conference of Robotics and Automation - ICRA 2012}, year = {2012}, month = {May 14 - 18}, pages = {p. 550 - 556}, address = {Saint Paul, MN, USA}, keywords = {Robotics}, author = {C. Rosales and R. Suarez and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @conference {1238, title = {Tele-Impedance: Exploring the Role of Common-Mode and Configuration-Dependant Stiffness}, booktitle = {IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots}, year = {2012}, pages = {363-369}, address = {Osaka, Japan}, keywords = {Robotics}, author = {A. Ajoudani and M Gabiccini and N G Tsagarakis and A Albu-Schaeffer and A. Bicchi} } @conference {GBB11, title = {Dynamic Optimization of Tendon Tensions in Biomorphically Designed Hands with Rolling Constraints}, booktitle = {2011 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation}, year = {2011}, month = {May 9 - 13}, pages = {2698 - 2704}, address = {Shangai, China}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {M Gabiccini and M. Branchetti and A. Bicchi} } @conference {SCGGB11, title = {The Hand Embodied}, booktitle = {Automatica.it 2011}, year = {2011}, note = {

poster presentation

}, month = {September, 7 - 9}, address = {Pisa, Italy}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {A. Serio and M. G. Catalano and G. Grioli and M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} } @article {BGS11, title = {Modeling Natural and Artificial Hands with Synergies}, journal = {Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B}, volume = {366}, year = {2011}, pages = {3153 - 3161}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1098/rstb.2011.0152}, author = {A. Bicchi and M Gabiccini and M. Santello} } @article {GBPM11, title = {On the Role of Hand Synergies in the Optimal Choice of Grasping Forces}, journal = {Autonomous Robots [special issue on RSS2010]}, volume = {31}, number = {2 - 3}, year = {2011}, pages = {235 - 252}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1007/s10514-011-9244-1}, author = {M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi and D Prattichizzo and M. Malvezzi} } @conference {GFMB11, title = {Structural Properties of Compliant Grasps with Underactuated Robotic Hands}, booktitle = {XX Congresso Aimeta}, year = {2011}, note = {

ISBN 978-88-906340-1-7 (online); ISBN 978-88-906340-0-0 (print)

}, month = {September, 12}, address = {Bologna, Italy}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {M Gabiccini and E. Farnioli and M. Malvezzi and A. Bicchi} } @conference {BG10, title = {On the Role of Hand Synergies in the Optimal Choice of Grasping Forces}, booktitle = {Robotics Science and Systems}, year = {2010}, month = {June, 27}, address = {Zaragoza, Spain}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, author = {M Gabiccini and A. Bicchi} }