Interactive demo
Two-robot cable task
Shape a flexible cable with the four joints of two robots. A small motion of one joint changes the shape of the entire cable.
Robot joints
Change one joint at a timeMake a small move and use the error to decide whether to continue or reverse it.
Left robot (blue)
Right robot (brown)
How it works
Interaction
Objective: Adjust the joints until the cable follows the dashed target.
Controls: Each slider rotates one joint. Both robots hold the same cable, so every joint motion changes the whole shape.
Feedback: The current error and its history indicate whether a change reduced the error.
Research context
Manipulation of cables, cloth and other flexible objects is required in domestic, agricultural and manufacturing applications.
Limit: Some targets are unreachable because of material, grasp and robot constraints. Characterising the set of reachable shapes is an open problem.
Takeaway
In a flexible object, each joint motion affects the whole shape.
You used visual feedback and trial and error. An autonomous controller has to estimate the same relation between joint motion and shape change, and update it as the object deforms.