Objective of the research project PROA
The general objective of the project is the development of analytic and learning procedures to automatically generate the movements of a hand to hold and manipulate an object with a given end, that is to say, going a step beyond the mere grasp of objects. This general objective includes the following sub-objectives:
1. Development, using analytical approaches, of algorithms to generate sequences of the finger positions on an object so that it is repositioned without losing, at any time, the grasp control nor the required characteristics (for example the equilibrium or the force balance), and being able to continuously measure the grasp quality. This it is a clearly defined problem, but it still does not have definitive solutions; that is the reason for its relevance.
2. Identification of elemental operations during the manipulation of an object made by a human and the creation of a library of elemental operations properly parameterized.
3. Characterization of a manipulation task as a sequence of elemental operations, in order to be able to perform the task knowing how the elemental operations are performed.
Sub-objectives 2 and 3 conform a novel system of manipulation learning by demonstrations of the human operator which has a double aim, the first is to try to deal, in a short term, with complex manipulation tasks, and second, to deep in the knowledge of how a human makes a task, which can open new research lines for future work.
