Vision-Based Solutions for Robotic Manipulation and Navigation Applied to Object Picking and Distribution

This paper presents a robotic demonstrator for manipulation and distribution of objects. The demonstrator relies on robust 3D vision-based solutions for navigation, object detection and detection of graspable surfaces using the rc_visard, a self-registering stereo vision sensor. Suitable software modules were developed for SLAM and for model-free suction gripping. The modules run onboard the sensor, which enables creating the presented demonstrator as a standalone application that does not require an additional host PC. The modules are interfaced with ROS, which allows a quick implementation of a fully functional robotic application.