@conference {3106, title = {Design of an Under-Actuated Wrist Based on Adaptive Synergies}, booktitle = {IEEE International Conference of Robotics and Automation, ICRA2017}, year = {2017}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = {Singapore, 29 May-3 June 2017}, abstract = {

An effective robotic wrist represents a key enabling element in robotic manipulation, especially in prosthetics. In this paper, we propose an under-actuated wrist system, which is also adaptable and allows to implement different under-actuation schemes. Our approach leverages upon the idea of soft synergies - in particular the design method of adaptive synergies - as it derives from the field of robot hand design. First we introduce the design principle and its implementation and function in a configurable test bench prototype, which can be used to demonstrate the feasibility of our idea. Furthermore, we report on results from preliminary experiments with humans, aiming to identify the most probable wrist pose during the pre-grasp phase in activities of daily living. Based on these outcomes, we calibrate our wrist prototype accordingly and demonstrate its effectiveness to accomplish grasping and manipulation tasks.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/ICRA.2017.7989789}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7989789/}, author = {S. Casini and V. Tincani and G. Averta and M. Poggiani and C. Della Santina and E. Battaglia and M. G. Catalano and M. Bianchi and G. Grioli and A. Bicchi} } @article {2841, title = {An Integrated Approach to Characterize the Behavior of a Human Fingertip in Contact with a Silica Window}, journal = {IEEE Transactions on Haptics}, volume = {10}, year = {2017}, month = {01/2017}, pages = {123-129}, abstract = {

Understanding the mechanisms of human tactual perception represents a challenging task in haptics and humanoid robotics. A classic approach to tackle this issue is to accurately and exhaustively characterize the mechanical behavior of human fingertip. The output of this characterization can then be exploited to drive the design of numerical models, which can be used to investigate in depth the mechanisms of human sensing. In this work, we present a novel integrated measurement technique and experimental set up for in vivo characterization of the deformation of the human fingertip at contact, in terms of contact area, force, deformation, and pressure distribution. The device presented here compresses the participant{\textquoteright}s fingertip against a flat surface, while the aforementioned measurements are acquired and experimental parameters such as velocity, finger orientation, and displacement (indentation) controlled. Experimental outcomes are then compared and integrated with the output of a 3D finite element (FE) model of the human fingertip, built upon existing validated models. The agreement between numerical and experimental data represents a validation for our approach.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, issn = {1939-1412}, doi = { 10.1109/TOH.2016.2614679}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=7579582}, author = {M. L. D{\textquoteright}Angelo and F. Cannella and M. Bianchi and M. D{\textquoteright}Imperio and E. Battaglia and M. Poggiani and G. Rossi and A. Bicchi and D. G. Caldwell} } @conference {2723, title = {A Wearable Fabric-based Display for Haptic Multi-Cue Delivery}, booktitle = {IEEE Haptics Symposium}, year = {2016}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = {Philadelphia, USA, April 8-11, 2016}, abstract = {

Softness represents one of the most informative

haptic properties, which plays a fundamental role in both

everyday tasks and more complex procedures. Thus, it is not

surprising that much effort has been devoted to designing haptic

systems able to suitably reproduce this information. At the

same time, wearability has gained an increasing importance as

a novel paradigm to enable a more effective and naturalistic

human robot interaction. Capitalizing upon our previous works

on grounded softness devices, in this paper we present the

Wearable Fabric Yielding Display (W-FYD), a fabric-based

tactile display for multi-cue delivery that can be worn by

user{\textquoteright}s finger. W-FYD enables to implement both passive and

active tactile exploration. Different levels of stiffness can be

reproduced by modulating the stretching state of a fabric

through two DC motors. An additional vertical degree of

freedom is implemented through a lifting mechanism, which

enables to convey softness stimuli to the user{\textquoteright}s finger pad.

Furthermore, a sliding effect on the finger can be also induced.

Experiments with humans show the effectiveness of W-FYD for

haptic multi-cue delivery.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/HAPTICS.2016.7463190}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/search/searchresult.jsp?queryText=A\%20Wearable\%20Fabric-based\%20Display\%20for\%20Haptic\%20Multi-Cue\%20Delivery\&newsearch=true}, author = {M. Bianchi and E. Battaglia and M. Poggiani and S. Ciotti and A. Bicchi} } @conference {2453, title = {A Novel Tactile Display for Softness and Texture Rendering in Tele-Operation Tasks}, booktitle = { IEEE World Haptics Conference}, year = {2015}, note = {

This work is supported in part by the European Research Council under the Advanced Grant SoftHands {\textquotedblleft}A Theory of Soft Synergies for a New Generation of Artificial Hands{\textquotedblright} no. ERC-291166, and by the EU FP7 project (no. 601165), {\textquotedblleft}WEARable HAPtics for Humans and Robots (WEARHAP){\textquotedblright}

}, pages = {49-56}, publisher = {IEEE}, organization = {IEEE}, address = {Chicago, USA, 22-25 June 2015}, abstract = {

Softness\ and\ texture\ high-frequency information represent fundamental haptic properties for every day life activities and environment tactual exploration. While several\ displays\ have been produced to convey either\ softness\ or high-frequency information, there is no or little evidence of systems that are able to reproduce both these properties in an integrated fashion. This aspect is especially crucial in medical\ tele-operated procedures, where roughness and stiffness of human tissues are both important to correctly identify given pathologies through palpation (e.g. in\ tele-dermatology). This work presents a fabric yielding\ display\ (FYD-pad), a fabric-based\ tactiledisplay\ for\ softness\ and\ texturerendering. The system exploits the control of two motors to modify both the stretching state of the elastic fabric forsoftnessrendering\ and to convey\ texture\ information on the basis of accelerometer-based data. At the same time, the measurement of the contact area can be used to control remote or virtual robots. In this paper, we discuss the architecture of FYD-pad and the techniques used for\ softness\ and\ texturereproduction as well as for synthesizing probe-surface interactions from real data.\ Tele-operationexamples and preliminary experiments with humans are reported, which show the effectiveness of the device in delivering both\ softness\ and\ texture\ information.

}, keywords = {Haptics, Robotics}, doi = {10.1109/WHC.2015.7177690}, url = {http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=\&arnumber=7177690}, author = {M. Bianchi and M. Poggiani and A. Serio and A. Bicchi} }