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Non-contact robotic manipulation of floating objects: exploiting emergent limit cycles
Sylvain Jacquart1, Nana Obayashi1, Josie Hughes1
1CREATE Lab, Institute of Mechanical Engineering, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Frontiers in Robotics and AI
|October 30, 2023
Summary
This study demonstrates robotic control of floating objects using fins in water. Researchers quantified system energy and used pattern generation to analyze water-object interactions for applications like pollution monitoring.
Area of Science:
- Robotics
- Fluid Dynamics
- Environmental Science
Background:
- Non-contact manipulation of floating objects is crucial for ocean plastic analysis and food processing.
- Modeling floating object dynamics is complex due to factors like object properties and wave patterns.
Purpose of the Study:
- To experimentally investigate robotically controlled limit cycles in floating object movement.
- To analyze water-object interactions in a closed environment using robot fins.
Main Methods:
- Utilized up to four robot fins with variable motor parameters.
- Employed energy quantification and open-loop pattern generation.
- Applied dynamic time warping to analyze floating patterns.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated control over floating object movement through robot fins.
- Successfully characterized key water-object interactions within the experimental setup.
- Identified emergent limit cycles in object trajectories.
Conclusions:
- Robotic fin manipulation offers a viable method for controlling floating objects in water.
- The study provides a framework for understanding and predicting complex fluid-object dynamics.
- Findings offer insights for applications in environmental monitoring and industrial processes.
