Congratulations to Caleb, Kandai, Matt, Mary, Ander and Krishna for their paper acceptance at IROS 2021!

Contact Anticipation for Physical Human-Robot Interaction with Robotic Manipulators using Onboard Proximity Sensors by Caleb Escobedo, Matthew Strong, Mary West, Ander Aramburu, and Alessandro Roncone

This publication introduces dynamic contact thresholding, a method for contact anticipation during physical human-robot interaction in close proximity dynamic environments. Additionally, a framework is introduced that outlines object detection, prior to contact behavior, contact detection, and post contact behavior for a robot manipulator.

Self-Contained Kinematic Calibration of a Novel Whole-Body Artificial Skin for Human-Robot Collaboration by Kandai Watanabe, Matthew Strong, Mary West, Caleb Escobedo, Ander Aramburu, Krishna Chaitanya, and Alessandro Roncone

The paper presents a kinematic calibration algorithm that can automatically locate sensors placed arbitrarily on the surface of a robot manipulator, given they are equipped with an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). To evaluate this calibration method and demonstrate potential applications, the HIRO group developed a stand-alone artificial skin unit equipped with an IMU and proximity sensor for object detection.

For more information on these two works, please visit this link.