Bottom dressing by a life-sized humanoid robot provided failure detection and recovery functions

Abstract

This paper describes dressing assistance by an autonomous robot. We especially focus on a dressing action that is particularly problematic for disabled people: the pulling of a bottom along the legs. To avoid injuring the subject's legs, the robot should recognize the state of the manipulated clothing. Therefore, while handling the clothing, the robot is supplied with both visual and force sensory information. Based on the them, dressing failure is detected and recovery from the failure is planned automatically. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is implemented and validated in a life-sized humanoid robot.