National Robotics Initiative (NRI): Manipulating Flexible Materials Using Sparse Coding

Enable dexterous robots to perform flexible materials manipulation, that only human can currently perform, by making it easier and less expensive to create haptic models for use by robots, through the use of force & tactile sensing to localize flexible materials. 

The ideas advanced in this proposal could be very significant for autonomous flexible materials manipulation.

• The main hypothesis, that sparse coding will capture “micro-structure” in tactile interactions, could dramatically improve the accuracy of haptic models and therefore make manipulation based on tactile sensing much more practical, if proven to be true.
• The idea of creating haptic models using mapping and optimization techniques could make model-building much easier, by allowing haptic models to be build based on unstructured haptic interactions.
• Finally, the idea of using planning under uncertainty, to combine perception and goal-directed planning, could make manipulation more robust by providing a systematic way of integrating tactile perception into a task. 

This research has the potential of having large impacts on manufacturing and NASA.

• Ability for manufacturing robots to work with flexible materials - Flexible materials and deformable parts are commonplace in US manufacturing applications – yet there is nearly zero capability for assembling these materials automatically using robots. Deformable parts are nearly always assembled by hand. As a result, the potential impact of this work on manufacturing is huge.
• Ability for an EVA Robonaut to remove external thermal blankets at a worksite – Flexible materials are common in NASA applications. The ability to robustly manipulate flexible thermal blankets is essentially a prerequisite for all extra vehicular (EVA) repair work. The successful development of technology based on the proposed ideas would expand the scope of the missions that NASA would be able to perform. 

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 3) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.