The present technology relates to a control device, a control method, and a program capable of enabling predetermined motion while a gripped object is stabilized. A control device according to one aspect of the present technology is a device that detects a gripped state of an object gripped by a hand unit, and limits motion of a motion unit while the object is gripped by the hand unit, in accordance with a result of detection of the gripped state. The present technology can be applied to a device that controls a robot including a hand unit capable of gripping an object.

Robotic gripping devices and methods for performing a picking operation. The methods described herein may involve positioning a gripping device with respect to an item to be grasped and then executing a first picking operation using the gripping device to obtain a grasp on the item. The methods may then involve executing at least two of a force detection procedure to detect a force applied to a portion of the gripping device, a grasping space detection procedure to detect an item in grasping range of the gripping device, a pressure detection procedure configured to detect pressure in an airflow path, and an item load detection procedure to detect force in a mechanical load path of the gripping device.

A gripping device monitored based on CEMF and a method for controlling the same includes: using a controller to instruct a drive unit to rotate a stepper motor; using the controller to compare the control instruction with a control parameter matrix stored in an access unit; obtaining a CEMF threshold by checking the position of the actual CEMF in the control parameter matrix; using the controller to monitor the actual CEMF; and using the controller to compare the actual CEMF with the threshold, maintaining driving of the stepper motor when the actual CEMF is larger than the threshold, and stopping the stepper motor to maintain the gripping status, when the actual CEMF is smaller than or equal to the threshold. The operation parameters are measured in advance when the stepper motor runs well, which ensures that the objected is stably gripped before abnormality occurs, thus stabilizing the gripping motion.

A robotic device includes an end effector device, a first sensor, and a controller. The end effector device includes two fingers for gripping a workpiece. The first sensor detects a pressure distribution on a gripping position on the workpiece by the two fingers. The controller performs, based on a temporal variation in the pressure distribution when the workpiece is lifted, posture control including rotation of the end effector device.

A region-based robotic grasp generation technique for machine tending or bin picking applications. Part and gripper geometry are provided as inputs, typically from CAD files, along with gripper kinematics. A human user defines one or more target grasp regions on the part, using a graphical user interface displaying the part geometry. The target grasp regions are identified by the user based on the user's knowledge of how the part may be grasped to ensure that the part can be subsequently placed in a proper destination pose. For each of the target grasp regions, an optimization solver is used to compute a plurality of quality grasps with stable surface contact between the part and the gripper, and no part-gripper interference. The computed grasps for each target grasp region are placed in a grasp database which is used by a robot in actual bin picking operations.

Techniques for controlling a robotic picking arm using estimated seal quality metrics. A plurality of candidate contact points for holding an item using a suction device of the robotic picking arm, based on captured images of the item and an n-dimensional surface model of the item. An expected seal quality metric for a first one of the candidate contact points, by processing the n-dimensional surface model of the item and physical properties of the suction device of the robotic picking arm. Based on the expected seal quality metric, embodiments can determine whether to retrieve the item from the storage container by holding the item at the first candidate contact point using the suction device of the robotic picking arm.

A robot having a robot manipulator with an effector, wherein the robot manipulator is designed and constructed for picking up, handling, and releasing an object and is controlled by a control unit, the robot including a first sensor means designed and constructed to determine a persisting adherence of the object to an effector after a release of the object by the effector, and where such an adherence persists, to generate a signal S, wherein when a signal S is present, the control unit is designed and constructed to control the robot manipulator in such a manner that it executes a predefined movement B in which the effector with the persistently adhering object is passed by a wiping object in such a manner that the adhering object is wiped off the effector on a surface or an edge of the wiping object.

An object detecting method includes imaging a plurality of target objects with an imaging section and acquiring a first image, recognizing an object position/posture of one of the plurality of target objects based on the first image, counting the number of successfully recognized object positions/postures of the target object, outputting, based on the object position/posture of the target object, a signal for causing a holding section to hold the target object, calculating, as a task evaluation value, a result about whether the target object was successfully held, updating, based on an evaluation indicator including the number of successfully recognized object positions/postures and the task evaluation value, a model for estimating the evaluation indicator from an imaging position/posture of the imaging section and determining an updated imaging position/posture, acquiring a second image in the updated imaging position/posture, and recognizing the object position/posture of the target object based on the second image.

A robot control method for controlling a robot is provided. The robot has a robot arm and a force detection unit detecting a force applied to the robot arm and grips a target object conveyed on a belt with an end effector provided at the robot arm. The method includes: a gripping step of executing an operation of gripping the target object with the end effector; and a determination step of determining whether the gripping of the target object is normally performed or not, based on a result of detection by the force detection unit in the gripping step.

Substantially as described and illustrated herein including devices, methods of operation for the systems or devices, articles of manufacture including processor-executable instructions, and a system including a robot.