Singulation of Objects in Cluttered Environment Using Dynamic Estimation of Physical Properties

This paper presents a scattering-based technique for object singulation in a cluttered environment. An analytical model-based control scattering approach is necessary for controlled object singulation. Controlled scattering implies achieving the desired distances between objects after collision. However, current analytical approaches are limited due to insufficient information of the physical environment properties, such as the coefficient of restitution, coefficient of friction, and masses of objects. In this paper, this limitation is overcome by introducing a technique to learn these parameters from unlabeled videos. For the analytical model, an impulse-based approach is used. A virtual world simulator is designed based on a dynamic model and the estimated physical properties of all objects in the environment. Experiments are performed in a virtual world until the targeted scattering pattern is achieved. The targeted scattering pattern implies that all objects are singulated. Finally, the desired input from the virtual world is fed to the robot manipulator to perform real-world scattering.