Bimanual Manipulation Workspace Analysis of Humanoid Robots with Object Specific Coupling Constraints

Abstract

In this work, a bimanual manipulation workspace analysis for humanoid robots is developed. This analysis con-siders manipulability and whole-body stability for a workspace where constraints exist between the hands of the humanoid for varying hand positions and object grasps. With this goal in mind, a combined manipulability-stability metric based on the volume of the manipulability ellipsoid and the distance of the capture point from the edge of the support polygon is proposed. This metric is visualized in a variety of workspace scenarios including those where the humanoid's center of mass is moving at a certain velocity and where it is grasping and carrying objects of different masses and shapes. With a focus on tightly coupled bimanual manipulation of varying symmetry, objects studied include boxes, a broom and a rolling pin. A general workspace and a box manipulation workspace are visualized for both the REEM-C and TALOS humanoids showing differences in the generated workspace volumes due to the varying topologies of the humanoids. These visualizations aim to provide insights into how manipulability and whole-body stability are affected by bimanual manipulation scenarios and to inform complex manipulation applications in areas such as control and cost-based planning.