Research Project

CLOTHILDE: Cloth manipulation learning from demonstration

Type

European Project

Start Date

01/01/2018

End Date

31/12/2023

Project Code

ERC-2016-ADG-741930

Project illustration

Staff

Project Description

The project aim is to establish the foundations of versatile cloth manipulation by robots. The theoretical ground will be to link machine learning and computational topology methods, so as to come up with a theory of cloth deformation under manipulation leading to a general framework for robots to learn to manipulate garments from human demonstrations. Such framework will encompass: non-expert teaching of a task, robot perception and skill learning, task-oriented cloth representation, probabilistic planning, robot task execution in varying initial conditions, failure diagnosis and informed requests for human help.

Project website: https://clothilde.iri.upc.edu

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 741930)

Project Publications

Journal Publications

  • 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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  • 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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  • 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. 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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  • 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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  • 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 , 2023, to appear.

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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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  • S. Forgas, R. Huertas, A. Andriella and G. Alenyà. Gendered human–robot interactions in services. International Journal of Social Robotics, 2023, to appear.

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  • S. Forgas, R. Huertas, A. Andriella and G. Alenyà. How do consumers' gender and rational thinking affect the acceptance of entertainment social robots?. International Journal of Social Robotics, 14: 973–994, 2022.

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  • P. Jiménez. Learning in autonomous and intelligent systems: Overview and biases from data sources. Arbor - Ciencia, Pensamiento y Cultura, 197(802): a627, 2022.

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  • I. Garcia-Camacho, J. Borràs, B. Calli, A. Norton and G. Alenyà. Household cloth object set: Fostering benchmarking in deformable object manipulation. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 7(3): 5866-5873, 2022.

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  • S. Forgas, R. Huertas, A. Andriella and G. Alenyà. The effects of gender and personality of robot assistants on customers’ acceptance of their service. Service Bussiness, 16: 359–389, 2022.

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  • E. Caldarelli, A. Colomé and C. Torras. Perturbation-Based stiffness inference in variable impedance control. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 7(4): 8823-8830, 2022.

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  • F. Coltraro, J. Amorós, M. Alberich-Carramiñana and C. Torras. An inextensible model for the robotic manipulation of textiles. Applied Mathematical Modelling, 101: 832-858, 2022.

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  • A. Andriella, R. Huertas, S. Forgas, C. Torras and G. Alenyà. “I know how you feel” The importance of interaction style on users’ acceptance in an entertainment scenario. Interaction Studies: Social Behaviour and Communication in Biological and Artificial Systems, 23(1): 21-57, 2022.

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  • A. Andriella, H. Siqueira, D. Fu, S. Magg, P. Barros, S. Wermter, C. Torras and G. Alenyà. Do I have a personality? Endowing care robots with context-dependent personality traits. International Journal of Social Robotics, 13(8): 2081-2102, 2021.

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  • M. Arduengo, A. Colomé, J. Borràs, L. Sentis and C. Torras. Task-adaptive robot learning from demonstration with Gaussian process models under replication. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 6(2): 966-973, 2021.

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  • A. Colomé and C. Torras. A topological extension of movement primitives for curvature modulation and sampling of robot motion. Autonomous Robots, 45: 725-735, 2021.

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  • F. Strazzeri and C. Torras. Topological representation of cloth state for robot manipulation. Autonomous Robots, 45: 737–754, 2021.

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  • M.A. Roa, M.R. Dogar, J. Pagès, C. Vivas, A. Morales, N. Correll, M. Görner, J. Rosell, S. Foix, R. Memmesheier and F. Ferro. Mobile manipulation hackathon: moving into real world applications. IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine, 28(2): 112-124, 2021.

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  • G. Canal, C. Torras and G. Alenyà. Are preferences useful for better assistance?: A physically assistive robotics user study. ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction, 10(4): 1-19, 2021.

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  • S. Donaire, J. Borràs, G. Alenyà and C. Torras. A versatile gripper for cloth manipulation. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 5(4): 6520-6527, 2020.

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  • I. Garcia-Camacho, M. Lippi, M.C. Welle, H. Yin, R. Antanova, A. Varava, J. Borràs, C. Torras, A. Marino, G. Alenyà and D. Kragic. Benchmarking bimanual cloth manipulation. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 5(2): 1111-1118, 2020.

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  • J. Borràs, G. Alenyà and C. Torras. A grasping-centered analysis for cloth manipulation. IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 36(3): 924-936, 2020.

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  • P. Jiménez and C. Torras. Perception of cloth in assistive robotic manipulation tasks. Natural Computing, 19(2): 409-431, 2020.

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  • C. Torras. Science-fiction: A mirror for the future of humankind. IDEES(48): 1-11, 2020.

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  • F. Amadio, A. Colomé and C. Torras. Exploiting symmetries in reinforcement learning of bimanual robotic tasks. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 4(2): 1838-1845, 2019.

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  • C. Torras. Assistive robotics: Research challenges and ethics education initiatives. DILEMATA: International Journal of Applied Ethics, 30: 63-77, 2019.

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  • A. Colomé and C. Torras. Dimensionality reduction for dynamic movement primitives and application to bimanual manipulation of clothes. IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 34(3): 602-615, 2018.

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  • A. Colomé and C. Torras. Dimensionality reduction in learning Gaussian mixture models of movement primitives for contextualized action selection and adaptation. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, 3(4): 3922-3929, 2018.

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  • C. Torras. Social networks and robot companions: Technology, ethics, and science fiction. Mètode Science Studies Journal, 99: 47-53, 2018.

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  • C. Torras and R. López de Mántaras. Special issue editorial: Interconnectats: Màquines i humans davant del segle 10101. Mètode Science Studies Journal, 99: 2-3, 2018.

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Conference Publications

  • 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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  • 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. Colomé and C. Torras. Ordinal inverse reinforcement learning applied to robot learning with small data, 2022 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, 2022, Kyoto, pp. 2490-2496.

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  • A. Andriella, C. Torras and G. Alenyà. Implications of robot backchannelling in cognitive therapy, 14th International Conference on Social Robotics, 2022, Florence, Italy, Vol 13817 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pp. 546–557.

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  • A. Suárez, A. Andriella, G. Alenyà and C. Torras. Proactive learning of cognitive exercises with a social robot, 2022 ICRA Workshop on Prediction and Anticipation Reasoning in Human Robot Interaction (PAR-HRI), 2022, Philadelphia, USA, pp. 1-4.

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  • C. Xu, A. Colomé, L. Sentis and C. Torras. Mixtures of controlled Gaussian processes for dynamical modeling of deformable objects, 2022 Learning for Dynamics & Control Conference, 2022, Stanford, CA, USA, pp. 415-426.

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  • I. Garcia-Camacho, J. Borràs and G. Alenyà. Knowledge representation to enable high-level planning in cloth manipulation tasks, 2022 ICAPS Workshop on Knowledge Engineering for Planning and Scheduling, 2022, Singapore (Virtual), pp. 9.

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  • M. Alberich-Carramiñana, J. Amorós, F. Coltraro, C. Torras and M. Verdaguer. Morse cell decomposition and parametrization of surfaces from point clouds, 2022 Encuentros de Álgebra Computacional y Aplicaciones, 2022, Castellón, Spain, to appear.

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  • F. Coltraro, J. Amorós, M. Alberich-Carramiñana and C. Torras. An inextensible model for the robotic manipulation of textiles, 2022 Congreso de ecuaciones diferenciales y aplicaciones XXVII, 2022, Zaragoza, Spain, pp. 87-87.

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  • J. Pareto, B. Román and C. Torras. Ethics for social robotics: A critical analysis, 2022 The Road to a Successful HRI: AI, Trust and ethicS Workshop, in the ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI 2022), 2022, Sapporo, Japan, pp. 1-3.

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  • A. Rossi, A. Andriella, S. Rossi, C. Torras and G. Alenyà. Evaluating the effect of Theory of Mind on people's trust in a faulty robot, 31st IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, 2022, Napoli, Italy, pp. 477-482.

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  • J. Pareto. Social assistive robotics: An ethical approach through the concept of freedom, 2022 Philosophy of Human-Technology Relations, 2022, Copenhagen, pp. 53.

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  • A. Boix, S. Foix and C. Torras. Garment manipulation dataset for robot learning by demonstration through a virtual reality framework, 24th Catalan Conference on Artificial Intelligence, 2022, Sitges, in Artificial Intelligence Research and Development, Vol 356 of Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence and Applications, pp. 199-208, IOS Press.

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  • N. Hansen, R. Jangir, Y.S. , G. Alenyà, P. Abbeel, A.A. , L.P. and X.W.. Self-supervised policy adaptation during deployment, 9th International Conference on Learning Representations, 2021, (Virtual).

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  • M. Arduengo, A. Arduengo, A. Colomé, J. Lobo and C. Torras. Human to robot whole-body motion transfer, 2020 IEEE-RAS International Conference on Humanoid Robots, 2021, Munich, Germany (Virtual), pp. 299-305.

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  • A. Suárez, A. Andriella, A. Taranović, J. Segovia, C. Torras and G. Alenyà. Automatic learning of cognitive exercises for socially assistive robotics, 30th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, 2021, Vancouver, Canada, pp. 139-146.

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  • J.A. Delgado-Guerrero, A. Colomé and C. Torras. Contextual policy search for micro-data robot motion learning through covariate Gaussian process latent variable models, 2020 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, 2020, Las Vegas, NV, USA, pp. 5511-5517.

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  • I. Geer, M. Maceira, J. Borràs, C. Torras and G. Alenyà. Interaction identification through tactile sensing during cloth manipulation using a 3-axis touch sensor, 2020 IROS Workshop on Robotic Manipulation of Deformable Objects, 2020, (Virtual), pp. 1-6.

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  • V.A. Carmona, J. Lobo, J. van Ruysevelt, C. Torras and J.M. Font. Development and pilot evaluation of the ArmTracker: A wearable system to monitor arm kinematics during daily life, 8th IEEE/RAS-EMBS International Conference on Biomedical Robotics and Biomechatronics , 2020, New York City, NY, USA, pp. 759-764, IEEE.

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  • D. Parent, A. Colomé and C. Torras. Variable impedance control in Cartesian latent space while avoiding obstacles in null space, 2020 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2020, Paris, France, pp. 9888-9894, IEEE.

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  • J.A. Delgado-Guerrero, A. Colomé and C. Torras. Sample-efficient robot motion learning using Gaussian process latent variable models, 2020 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2020, Paris, France, pp. 314-320, IEEE.

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  • R. Jangir, G. Alenyà and C. Torras. Dynamic cloth manipulation with deep reinforcement learning, 2020 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 2020, Paris, France, pp. 4630-4636, IEEE.

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  • A. Andriella, R. Huertas, S. Forgas, C. Torras and G. Alenyà. Discovering SOCIABLE: Using a conceptual model to evaluate the legibility and effectiveness of backchannel cues in an entertainment scenario, 29th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, 2020, Naples, Italy (Virtual), pp. 752-759.

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  • M. Alberich-Carramiñana, J. Amorós and F. Coltraro. Developable surfaces with prescribed boundary, 2019 Trobada GEOMVAP - Geometria de Varietats i Aplicacions , 2019, Cardona, in Extended Abstracts GEOMVAP 2019 - Geometry, Topology, Algebra, and Applications; Women in Geometry and Topology, Vol 15 of Trends in Mathematics - Research Perspectives CRM Barcelona, pp. 127-132, 2021, Springer-Birkhäuser, Cham.

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  • G. Canal, M. Cashmore, S. Krivić, G. Alenyà, D. Magazzeni and C. Torras. Probabilistic planning for robotics with ROSPlan, 2019 Annual Conference Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems Conference, 2019, London, in Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems, Vol 11649 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, pp. 236-250, 2019, Springer.

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  • F. Strazzeri and C. Torras. Configuration space of a textile rectangle, 2019 Trobada GEOMVAP - Geometria de Varietats i Aplicacions , 2019, Cardona, in Extended Abstracts GEOMVAP 2019 - Geometry, Topology, Algebra, and Applications; Women in Geometry and Topology, Vol 15 of Trends in Mathematics - Research Perspectives CRM Barcelona, pp. 133-137, 2021, Springer-Birkhäuser, Cham.

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  • C. Torras. Anticipatory science fiction to foster ethical debates on AI and robotics, 2019 International Symposium on Anticipation and Anticipatory Systems: Humans Meet AI, 2019, Örebro, Sweden, pp. 1-3.

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  • J. Borràs, R. Heudorfer, S. Rader, P. Kaiser and T. Asfour. The KIT swiss knife gripper for disassembly tasks: a multi-functional gripper for bimanual manipulation with a single arm, 2018 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, 2018, Madrid, Spain, pp. 4590-4597.

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Other Publications

  • A. Colomé and C. Torras. Reinforcement Learning of Bimanual Robot Skills. Volume 134 of Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics. Springer, 2020.

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  • C. Torras. The Vestigial Heart. A Novel of the Robot Age. The MIT Press, 2018.

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  • C. Torras. Aprenentatge Automàtic en Xarxes i Robots: Reptes Tecnocientífics i Implicacions Ètiques. Institut d'Estudis Catalans. Secció de Ciències i Tecnologia, 2018.

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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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  • 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. La ciencia ficción como estímulo del debate ético en robótica. In Robótica, ética y política. El impacto de la superinteligencia en el mundo de las personas, 139-167. Icaria Editorial, 2022.

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  • C. Torras. Robotics and artificial intelligence meet the humanities: Some initiatives for ethics education and dissemination. In Humanities and Higher Education: Synergies between Science, Technology and Humanities, 267-273. Global University Network for Innovation, 2019.

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  • F. Coltraro. Experimental validation of an inextensible cloth model. Technical Report IRI-TR-20-04, Institut de Robòtica i Informàtica Industrial, CSIC-UPC, 2020.

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  • R. Jangir, G. Alenyà and C. Torras. Learning cloth manipulation with demonstrations. Technical Report IRI-TR-19-01, Institut de Robòtica i Informàtica Industrial, CSIC-UPC, 2019.

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