Human-Inspired Non-prehensile Manipulation Strategies: Design, Implementation, and Evaluation

Grasping of objects is not always feasible for robot manipulators, e.g., due to their geometric properties. Non-prehensile manipulation strategies can enable manipulators to successfully move these objects around. We analyze human-inspired gripper configurations for pushing small or heavy objects and propose closed-loop pushing strategies based on force-torque measurements as well as open-loop strategies to push small objects. In a thorough evaluation on a KUKA LWR4+ manipulator arm and in simulation, we discuss the effects of the different designs and strategies.