Learning to Grasp Novel Objects Using Vision

Learning to Grasp Novel Objects Using Vision
Abstract

We consider the problem of grasping novel objects, specifically, ones that are being seen for the first time through vision. We present a learning algorithm which predicts, as a function of the images, the position at which to grasp the object. This is done without building or requiring a 3-d model of the object. Our algorithm is trained via supervised learning, using synthetic images for the training set. Using our robotic arm, we successfully demonstrate this approach by grasping a variety of differently shaped objects, such as duct tape, markers, mugs, pens, wine glasses, knife-cutters, jugs, keys, toothbrushes, books, and others, including many object types not seen in the training set.