Research line

Perception and Manipulation Image

The research of PERCEPTION AND MANIPULATION group focuses on enhancing the perception, learning, and planning capabilities of robots to achieve higher degrees of autonomy and user-friendliness during everyday manipulation tasks. Some topics addressed are the geometric interpretation of perceptual information, construction of 3D object models, action selection and planning, reinforcement learning, and teaching by demonstration.

Head of line: Carme Torras Genís

Head of line

Tech. transfer

Our activity finds applications in several fields through collaboration with our technological partners

Research projects

We carry out projects from national and international research programmes.
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Learning by demonstration

We devise methods to learn object-action relations to accomplish tasks at different levels of abstraction, where object models are generated from visual and depth information, and actions, involving manipulation skills, are learned from demonstrations provided by a human using multimodal algorithms that combine vision and haptics.

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Research area 1 of Perception and Manipulation

Planning for perception and manipulation

We are interested in view planning for object modeling, as well as manipulation planning, with special interest in deformable objects. High-level task formulations are integrated with low-level geometry-based methods and simplified physical models, together with an on-line sensory-based treatment of uncertainty, so as to come up with specific sequences of motion commands.

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Research area 2 of Perception and Manipulation

Perception of rigid and non-rigid objects

Our objective is to investigate computer vision algorithms for interpreting and understanding scenes from images, with applications in robotics and medical imaging. In particular, our activities are concentrated on retrieving rigid and non-rigid shape, motion and camera pose from single images and video sequences.

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Research area 3 of Perception and Manipulation

These are the latest research projects of the Perception and Manipulation research line:

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    Technology Transfer Contract

    Start Date: 24/10/2003

These are the most recent publications (2024 - 2023) of the Perception and Manipulation

  • E. Corona, G. Alenyà, G. Pons-Moll and F. Moreno-Noguer. LayerNet: high-resolution semantic 3D reconstruction of clothed people. IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, 46(2): 1257-1272, 2024.

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  • M. Dalmasso, J.E. Domínguez, I.J. Torres, P. Jiménez, A. Garrell Zulueta and A. Sanfeliu. Shared task representation for human–robot collaborative navigation: The collaborative search case. International Journal of Social Robotics, 16: 145-171, 2024.

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  • C. Torras. Ethics of social robotics: Individual and societal concerns and opportunities. Annual Review of Control, Robotics, and Autonomous Systems, 7(1), 2024, to appear.

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  • A. Civit, A. Andriella, C. Barrue, M. Antonio, C. Boqué and G. Alenyà. Introducing social robots to assess frailty in older adults, 2024 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, 2024, Boulder, CO, USA, pp. 342–346.

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  • G. Tzelepis, A. Eren Erdal, J. Borràs and G. Alenyà. Semantic state estimation in robot cloth manipulations using domain adaptation from human demonstrations, 19 International Conference on Computer Vision Theory and Applications, 2024, Rome, pp. 172-182.

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  • F. Coltraro, J. Amorós, M. Alberich-Carramiñana and C. Torras. A novel collision model for inextensible textiles and its experimental validation. Applied Mathematical Modelling, 128: 287-308, 2024.

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  • A. Luque, D. Parent, A. Colomé, C. Ocampo-Martínez and C. Torras. Model predictive control for dynamic cloth manipulation: Parameter learning and experimental validation. IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology: 1-17, 2024, to appear.

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  • D. Blanco-Mulero, O. Barbany, G. Alcan, A. Colomé, C. Torras and V. Kyrki. Benchmarking the sim-to-real gap in cloth manipulation. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 9(3): 2981-2988, 2024.

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  • P. Jiménez. Inside-out states of garments. Technical Report IRI-TR-24-01, Institut de Robòtica i Informàtica Industrial, CSIC-UPC, 2024.

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  • C. Torras. Presente y futuro de los robots asistenciales: Desafíos tecnocientíficos y éticos. Real Academia de Ingeniería, 2024.

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  • D.F. Ordoñez, M. Martin, A. Agudo and F. Moreno-Noguer. On discrete symmetries of robotics systems: A group-theoretic and data-driven analysis, 2023 Robotics: Science and Systems Conference, 2023, Daegu, Republic of Korea.

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  • E. Caldarelli, A. Colomé, C. Ocampo-Martínez and C. Torras. Quadratic dynamic matrix control for fast cloth manipulation, 2023 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, 2023, Detroit, MI, USA, pp. 8178-8185.

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  • B.M. Lopes, R. Marques , D. Faustino, P. Ilheu, T. Santos , J. Sousa and A.D. Rocha. Enhance the injection molding quality prediction with artificial intelligence to reach zero-defect manufacturing. Processes, 11(1): 62, 2023.

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  • F. Coltraro, J. Fontana, J. Amorós, M. Alberich-Carramiñana, J. Borràs and C. Torras. A representation of cloth states based on a derivative of the Gauss Linking Integral. Applied Mathematics and Computation, 457: 128165, 2023.

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  • E. Caldarelli, A. Chatalic, A. Colomé, L. Rosasco and C. Torras. Heteroscedastic Gaussian processes and random features: scalable motion primitives with guarantees, 2023 Conference on Robot Learning, 2023, Atlanta, GA, USA, pp. 3010-3029, PMLR.

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  • E. Barbecho-Jimbo, D. Vallejo-Ramírez, J. Cobos-Torres, C. Angulo and C. Flores-Vázquez. Remote operation of CeCi social robot . Robotics, 12(1): 19, 2023.

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  • A. Olivares-Alarcos, A. Andriella, S. Foix and G. Alenyà. Robot explanatory narratives of collaborative and adaptive experiences, 2023 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2023, London (UK), pp. 11964-11971.

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  • A. Dhamanaskar, M. Dimiccoli, E. Corona, A. Pumarola and F. Moreno-Noguer. Enhancing egocentric 3D pose estimation with third person views . Pattern Recognition, 138(109358), 2023.

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  • D.F. Ordoñez, M. Martin, A. Agudo and F. Moreno-Noguer. Morphological symmetries in robot learning, 2023 RSS Workshop on Symmetries in Robot Learning, 2023, Daegu (South Korea), pp. 1-5.

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  • F. Coltraro, J. Amorós, M. Alberich-Carramiñana and C. Torras. Reconstruction of sampled surfaces with boundary via Morse theory, 2023 Congreso Español de Informática Gráfica, 2023, Mallorca, pp. 21-24.

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  • A. Suárez, A. Andriella, C. Torras and G. Alenyà. User interactions and negative examples to improve the learning of semantic rules in a cognitive exercise scenario, 2023 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, 2023, Detroit, MI, USA, pp. 7953-7960.

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  • P. Caselles, E. Ramon, J. Garcia, X. Giro-i-Nieto, F. Moreno-Noguer and G. Triginer. SIRA: Relightable Avatars from a Single Image, 2023 IEEE Winter Conference on Applications of Computer Vision, 2023, Waikoloa, Hawaii, pp. 775-784.

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  • E.B. Bueno Benito, B. Tura and M. Dimiccoli. Leveraging triplet loss for unsupervised action segmentation, 2023 CVPR Workshop on Learning with Limited Labelled Data, 2023, Vancouver, Canadá, pp. 4922-4930, IEEE.

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  • G.D. Delmas, P. Weinzaepfel, F. Moreno-Noguer and G. Rogez. PoseFix: correcting 3D human poses with natural language, 2023 International Conference on Computer Vision, 2023, Paris, France, pp. 14972-14982.

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  • A. Urdapilleta and A. Agudo. Comparative study of feature localization methods for endoscopy image matching, 2023 IEEE International Conference on Image Processing Challenges and Workshops, 2023, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, pp. 3719-3723, IEEE.

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  • G. Tzelepis, J. Borràs, A. Eren Erdal and G. Alenyà. Semantic state prediction in robotic cloth manipulation, 2023 Intelligent Systems Conference, 2023, Amsterdam, pp. 205-219, Springer Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems.

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  • C. Torras. Robótica asistencial. Retos éticos en la ayuda y acompañamiento a cuidadores y pacientes. In Soledad no deseada en la era digital, 38-46. Fundació Víctor Grífols i Lucas, 2023.

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  • E. Thomaz and M. Dimiccoli. Acquisition and analysis of camera sensor data (Lifelogging). In Mobile Sensing in Psychology. Methods and Applications, 277-296. Guilford Publications, 2023.

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  • E. Pignaton, J. Olszewska, J.L. Carbonera, S. Fiorini, A. Khamis, V.R. Kumar, M. Barreto, E. Prestes, M.K. Habib, S. Redfield, A. Chibani, P. Goncalves, J. Bermejo-Alonso, R. Sanz, E. Tosello, A. Olivares-Alarcos, A.A. Konzen, J. Quintas and H. Li. Ontological concepts for information sharing in cloud robotics. Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing, 14: 4921–4932, 2023.

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  • S. Forgas, R. Huertas, A. Andriella and G. Alenyà. Gendered human–robot interactions in services. International Journal of Social Robotics, 15(11): 1791-1807, 2023.

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  • C. Torras. Robòtica assistencial: una aposta per l'envelliment saludable i sostenible. In Bioética: una mirada cap al futur, 216-225. Fundació Víctor Grífols i Lucas, 2023.

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  • A. Andriella, C. Torras, C. Abdelnour and G. Alenyà. Introducing CARESSER: A framework for in situ learning robot social assistance from expert knowledge and demonstrations. User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction, 33: 441-496, 2023.

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  • C. Torras and L.G. Ludescher. Writing science fiction as an inspiration for AI research and ethics dissemination. In Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence: Advanced Lectures, 322-344. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2023.

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  • C. Torras. Desplegament ètic de la robòtica assistencial per a un envelliment saludable i sostenible. In La medicina al segle xxi, avenços i límits, 35-44. Universitat d'Estiu i Tardor d'Andorra, Govern d'Andorra, 2023.

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  • G. Canal, C. Torras and G. Alenyà. Generating predicate suggestions based on the space of plans: an example of planning with preferences. User Modeling and User-Adapted Interaction, 33: 333-357, 2023.

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  • A. Olivares-Alarcos, S. Foix and G. Alenyà. Time to contact for robot safety stop in close collaborative tasks. In Human-robot collaboration: unlocking the potential for industrial applications, 87-104. Institution of Engineering Technology, 2023.

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  • C. Torras. Eduquem les criatures... també les artificials!. Serra d'Or, 760: 28-29, 2023.

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  • S. Forgas, R. Huertas, A. Andriella and G. Alenyà. Does the personality of consumers influence the assessment of the experience of interaction with social robots?. International Journal of Social Robotics, 2023, to appear.

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  • R. Pérez, A. Espersen and A. Agudo. Robust wind turbine blade segmentation from RGB images in the wild, 2023 IEEE International Conference on Image Processing, 2023, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, pp. 1025-1029.

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  • C. Torras. Humans i robots: ¿qui modela qui?. El Món d'Ahir, 26: 134-143, 2023.

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  • M. Arduengo, A. Colomé, J. Lobo, L. Sentis and C. Torras. Gaussian-process-based learning from demonstration. Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing, 2023, to appear.

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  • A. San-Miguel, V. Puig and G. Alenyà. Condition-based design of variable impedance controllers from user demonstrations. Control Engineering Practice, 140: 105658, 2023.

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  • L.M. Lach, N. Funk, R. Haschke, S. Lemaignan, H. Ritter, J. Peters and G. Chalvatzaki. Placing by touching: An empirical study on the importance of tactile sensing for precise object placing, 2023 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, 2023, Detroit, MI, USA, pp. 8964-8971.

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  • S. Forgas, R. Huertas, A. Andriella and G. Alenyà. Social robot-delivered customer-facing services: an assessment of the experience. The Service Industries Journal, 43(3): 154-184, 2023.

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  • S. Izquierdo, G. Alenyà and C. Rizzo. Adaptive Human-Robot Collaboration: evolutionary learning of action costs using an action outcome simulator, 32nd IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, 2023, Busan, Korea, pp. 1901-1907.

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  • L.M. Lach, N. Funk, R. Haschke, H. Ritter, J. Peters and G. Chalvatzaki. Tactile sensing for stable object placing, 2023 Workshop on Touch Processing: a new Sensing Modality for AI at NeurIPS 2023 , 2023, New Orleans (LA), USA, pp. 1-10.

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  • F. Amadio, J.A. Delgado-Guerrero, A. Colomé and C. Torras. Controlled Gaussian process dynamical models with application to robotic cloth manipulation. International Journal of Dynamics and Control , 11: 3209-3219, 2023.

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  • R. Cupec, I. Vidovic, V. Simundic, P. Pejic, S. Foix and G. Alenyà. Teaching a robot where doors and drawers are and how to handle them, 32nd IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, 2023, Busan, Korea, pp. 2288-2294.

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  • L.M. Lach, R. Haschke, D. Tateo, J. Peters, H. Ritter, J. Borràs and C. Torras. Towards transferring tactile-based continuous force control policies from simulation to robot, 2023 Workshop on Touch Processing: a new Sensing Modality for AI at NeurIPS 2023 , 2023, New Orleans (LA), USA, pp. 10.

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  • J. Borràs, A. Boix, S. Foix and C. Torras. A virtual reality framework for fast dataset creation applied to cloth manipulation with automatic semantic labelling, 2023 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2023, London (UK), pp. 11605-11611.

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  • M. Pérez and A. Agudo. Sensor-agnostic multimodal fusion for multiple object tracking from camera, radar, lidar and V2X, 2023 FISITA 2023 World Congress, 2023, Barcelona, to appear.

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  • M. Bellver, C. Ventura, C. Silberer, I. Kazakos, J. Torres and X. Giro-i-Nieto. A closer look at referring expressions for video object segmentation. Multimedia Tools and Applications, 82: 4419-4438, 2023.

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  • A. Agudo. Detail-aware uncalibrated photometric stereo, 2023 IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing, 2023, Rhodes Island, Greece, pp. 1-5.

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  • M. Pérez and A. Agudo. Robust multimodal and multi-object tracking for autonomous driving applications, 2023 International Conference on Advanced Robotics, 2023, Abu Dhabi, UAE, pp. 100-106, IEEE.

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  • M. Alberich-Carramiñana, J. Guàrdia, E. Nart and J. Roé. Valuative trees over valued fields. Journal of Algebra, 614: 71-114, 2023.

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Perception and Manipulation Laboratory

The Perception and Manipulation Laboratory is the main facility devoted to experimentation on the topics of the research line. It occupies 142 m² in the second floor of the Faculty, and a large part hosts a life-scale mock-up of a (quite) small apartment (35 m²). Two PAL one-armed mobile TIAGo robots dwell within the apartment, but are occasionally taken out for experimentation elsewhere. There is also a manipulation area equipped with two WAM robot arms and a KINOVA manipulator, and workplaces are distributed along the perimeter. Next to the laboratory, with a direct view through a window, there is the Scientific and Technical Lab support office.

The Laboratory is further equipped with commercial and self-developed grippers, sensing devices, and augmented reality appliances. Laboratory service offers quick experimental setup, several standardized software tools, and expertise in robot control and perception algorithms. It also hosted the Humanoids Lab Initiative in the past, and we still keep 15 small humanoid robots for educational or promotional purposes.

Perception and Manipulation Laboratory
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