Todor Stoyanov

Örebro University | oru · Center for Applied Autonomous Sensor Systems (AASS)

Integrating the heterogeneous controllers of a complex mechanical system, such as a mobile manipulator, within the same structure and in a modular way is still challenging. In this work we extend our framework based on Behavior Trees for the control of a redundant mechanical system to the problem of commanding more complex systems that involve mult...

Gaussian process (GP) implicit surface models provide environment and object representations which elegantly address noise and uncertainty while remaining sufficiently flexible to capture complex geometry. However, GP models quickly become intractable as the size of the observation set grows—a trait which is difficult to reconcile with the rate at...

Estimating the 6DOF pose of objects is an important function in many applications, such as robot manipulation or augmented reality. However, accurate and fast pose estimation from 3D point clouds is challenging, because of the complexity of object shapes, measurement noise, and presence of occlusions. We address this challenging task using an end-t...

Stack-of-Tasks (SoT) control allows a robot to simultaneously fulfill a number of prioritized goals formulated in terms of (in)equality constraints in error space. Since this approach solves a sequence of Quadratic Programs (QP) at each time-step, without taking into account any temporal state evolution, it is suitable for dealing with local distur...

Tracking of deformable linear objects (DLOs) is important for many robotic applications. However, achieving robust and accurate tracking is challenging due to the lack of distinctive features or appearance on the DLO, the object's high-dimensional state space, and the presence of occlusion. In this letter, we propose a method for tracking the state...

Combining learned policies in a prioritized, ordered manner is desirable because it allows for modular design and facilitates data reuse through knowledge transfer. In control theory, prioritized composition is realized by null-space control, where low-priority control actions are projected into the null-space of high-priority control actions. Such...

In manufacturing, assembly tasks have been a challenge for learning algorithms due to variant dynamics of different environments. Reinforcement learning (RL) is a promising framework to automatically learn these tasks, yet it is still not easy to apply a learned policy or skill, that is the ability of solving a task, to a similar environment even i...

In robotics, deep learning models are used in many visual perception applications, including the tracking, detection and pose estimation of robotic manipulators. The state of the art methods however are conditioned on the availability of annotated training data, which may in practice be costly or even impossible to collect. Domain augmentation is o...

Robots manipulating deformable linear objects (DLOs)—such as surgical sutures in medical robotics, or cables and hoses in industrial assembly—can benefit substantially from accurate and fast differentiable predictive models. However, the off-the-shelf analytic physics models fall short of differentiability. Recently, neural network based data-drive...

In manufacturing, assembly tasks have been a challenge for learning algorithms due to variant dynamics of different environments. Reinforcement learning (RL) is a promising framework to automatically learn these tasks, yet it is still not easy to apply a learned policy or skill, that is the ability of solving a task, to a similar environment even i...

Contact-rich manipulation tasks remain a hard problem in robotics that requires interaction with unstructured environments. Reinforcement Learning (RL) is one potential solution to such problems, as it has been successfully demonstrated on complex continuous control tasks. Nevertheless, current state-of-the-art methods require policy training in si...

A software architecture defines the blueprints of a large computational system, and is thus a crucial part of the design and development effort. This task has been explored extensively in the context of mobile robots, resulting in a plethora of reference designs and implementations. As the software architecture defines the framework in which all co...

A sensor is a device that converts a physical parameter or an environmental characteristic (e.g., temperature, distance, speed, etc.) into a signal that can be digitally measured and processed to perform specific tasks. Mobile robots need sensors to measure properties of their environment, thus allowing for safe navigation, complex perception and c...

One-step reinforcement learning explanation methods account for individual actions but fail to consider the agent’s future behavior, which can make their interpretation ambiguous. We propose to address this limitation by providing hierarchical goals as context for one-step explanations. By considering the current hierarchical goal as a context, one...

Despite the strong demand for solutions and the intense research effort, fully autonomous object manipulation is not yet solved. One of the main challenges is the large variety of conditions in which the objects should be handled. There is a need for solutions that integrate both advanced perception systems for object recognition and pose estimatio...

This study proposes a new shared mixed reality (MR)-bilateral telerobotic system. The main contribution of this study is to combine MR teleoperation and bilateral teleoperation, which takes advantage of the two types of teleoperation and compensates for each other's drawbacks. With this combination, the proposed system can address the asymmetry iss...

We present an approach for recognizing objects present in a scene and estimating their full pose by means of an accurate 3D instance-aware semantic reconstruction. Our framework couples convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and a state-of-the-art dense Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM) system, ElasticFusion (Whelan et al., 2016), to achie...

Creating maps is an essential task in robotics and provides the basis for effective planning and navigation. In this paper, we learn a compact and continuous implicit surface map of an environment from a stream of range data with known poses. For this, we create and incrementally adjust an ensemble of approximate Gaussian process (GP) experts which...

We present a system capable of reconstructing highly detailed object-level models and estimating the 6D pose of objects by means of an RGB-D camera. In this work, we integrate deep-learning-based semantic segmentation, instance segmentation, and 6D object pose estimation into a state of the art RGB-D mapping system. We leverage the pipeline of Elas...

Virtual reality (VR) is regarded as a useful tool for teleoperation systems and provides operators with immersive visual feedback on the robot and the environment. However, without any haptic feedback or physical constructions, VR-based teleoperation systems normally suffer from poor maneuverability, and operational faults may be caused in some fin...

We present a system for accurate 3D instance-aware semantic reconstruction and 6D pose estimation, using an RGB-D camera. Our framework couples convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and a state-of-the-art dense Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM) system, ElasticFusion, to achieve both high-quality semantic reconstruction as well as robust 6...

Warehouse logistics is a rapidly growing market for robots. However, one key procedure that has not received much attention is the unwrapping of pallets to prepare them for objects picking. In fact, to prevent the goods from falling and to protect them, pallets are normally wrapped in plastic when they enter the warehouse. Currently, unwrapping is...

This paper firstly develops a novel force observer using Type-2 Fuzzy Neural Network (T2FNN)-basedMoving Horizon Estimation (MHE) to estimate external force/torque information and simultaneouslyfilter out the system disturbances. Then, by using the proposed force observer, a new bilateralteleoperation system is proposed that allows the slave indust...

We present a mapping system capable of constructing detailed instance-level semantic models of room-sized indoor environments by means of an RGB-D camera. In this work, we integrate deep-learning based instance segmentation and classification into a state of the art RGB-D SLAM system. We leverage the pipeline of ElasticFusion \cite{whelan2016elasti...

The ability to maintain and continuously update geometric calibration parameters of a mobile platform is a key functionality for every robotic system. These parameters include the intrinsic kinematic parameters of the platform, the extrinsic parameters of the sensors mounted on it, and their time delays. In this letter, we present a unified pipelin...

This article presents an approach for assisted teleoperation of a robot arm, formulated within a real-time stack-of-tasks (SoT) whole-body motion control framework. The approach leverages the hierarchical nature of the SoT framework to integrate operator commands with assistive tasks, such as joint limit and obstacle avoidance or automatic gripper...

Policy search reinforcement learning allows robots to acquire skills by themselves. However, the learning procedure is inherently unsafe as the robot has no a-priori way to predict the consequences of the exploratory actions it takes. Therefore, exploration can lead to collisions with the potential to harm the robot and/or the environment. In this...

Policy search reinforcement learning allows robots to acquire skills by themselves. However, the learning procedure is inherently unsafe as the robot has no a-priori way to predict the consequences of the exploratory actions it takes. Therefore, exploration can lead to collisions with the potential to harm the robot and/or the environment. In this...

Local scan registration approaches commonly only utilize ego-motion estimates (e.g. odometry) as an initial pose guess in an iterative alignment procedure. This paper describes a new method to incorporate ego-motion estimates, including uncertainty, into the objective function of a registration algorithm. The proposed approach is particularly suite...

In order to deal with the scaling problem of volumetric map representations, we propose spatially local methods for high-ratio compression of 3D maps, represented as truncated signed distance fields. We show that these compressed maps can be used as meaningful descriptors for selective decompression in scenarios relevant to robotic applications. As...

Grasping systems that build upon meticulously planned hand postures rely on precise knowledge of object geometry, mass and frictional properties - assumptions which are often violated in practice. In this work, we propose an alternative solution to the problem of grasp acquisition in simple autonomous pick and place scenarios, by utilizing the conc...

In order to deal with the scaling problem of volumetric map representations we propose spatially local methods for high-ratio compression of 3D maps, represented as truncated signed distance fields. We show that these compressed maps can be used as meaningful descriptors for selective decompression in scenarios relevant to robotic applications. As...

This article discusses the scientifically and industrially important problem of automating the process of unloading goods from standard shipping containers. We outline some of the challenges barring further adoption of robotic solutions to this problem: ranging from handling a vast variety of shapes, sizes, weights, appearance and packing arrangeme...

With the increased availability of GPUs and multicore CPUs, volumetric map representations are an increasingly viable option for robotic applications. A particularly important representation is the truncated signed distance field (TSDF) that is at the core of recent advances in dense 3-D mapping. However, there is relatively little literature explo...

Safe and reliable autonomous navigation in unstructured environments remains a challenge for field robots. In particular, operating on vegetated terrain is problematic, because simple purely geometric traversability analysis methods typically classify dense foliage as nontraversable. As traversing through vegetated terrain is often possible and eve...

So far, autonomous order picking (commissioning) systems have not been able to meet the stringent demands regarding speed, safety and accuracy of real-world warehouse automation, resulting in reliance on human workers. In this work we target the next step in autonomous robot commissioning: automatizing the currently manual order picking procedure....

We suggest a grasp representation in form of a set of enveloping spatial constraints. Our representation transforms the grasp synthesis problem (i. e., the question of where to position the grasping device) from finding a suitable discrete manipulator wrist pose to finding a suitable pose manifold. Also the corresponding motion planning and executi...

Autonomous navigation in real-world industrial environments is a challenging task in many respects. One of the key open challenges is fast planning and execution of trajectories to reach arbitrary target positions and orientations with high accuracy and precision, while taking into account non-holonomic vehicle constraints. In recent years, lattice...

The Velvet II dexterous gripper developed at the University of Pisa. It comprises two fingers, each of which has two phalanges and a planar manipulator structure with two rotary joints. Furthermore, each phalanx is equipped with one Sensitive Active Surface (SAS).

In this work we exploit the combined effects of the under-actuation and the active surfaces of the Velvet II dexterous gripper. The aim is to achieve a firm enveloping grasp, starting from an initial pinch grasp. The pull-in grasping strategy described here turns out to be very useful in untidy environments where the scene is populated by many obje...

Given that 3D scan matching is such a central part of the perception pipeline for robots, thorough and large-scale investigations of scan matching performance are still surprisingly few. A crucial part of the scientific method is to perform experiments that can be replicated by other researchers in order to compare different results. In light of th...

IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) - Workshop on Robotic Hands, Grasping, and Manipulation, 2015.

In this article, we address the problem of realizing a complete efficient system for automated management of fleets of autonomous ground vehicles in industrial sites. We elicit from current industrial practice and the scientific state of the art the key challenges related to autonomous transport vehicles in industrial environments and relate them t...

Autonomous navigation in real-world industrial environments is a challenging task in many respects. One of the key open challenges is fast planning and execution of trajectories to reach arbitrary target positions and orientations with high accuracy and precision, while taking into account non-holonomic vehicle constraints. In recent years, lattice...

The work presented here is embedded in research on an industrial application scenario, namely autonomous shipping-container unloading, which has several challenging constraints: the scene is very cluttered, objects can be much larger than in common table-top scenarios; the perception must be highly robust, while being as fast as possible. These con...