An ASP-Based Framework for the Manipulation of Articulated Objects Using Dual-Arm Robots

The manipulation of articulated objects is of primary importance in robotics, and is one of the most complex robotics tasks. Traditionally, this problem has been tackled by developing ad-hoc approaches, that lack of flexibility and portability. In this paper we present a framework based on Answer Set Programming (ASP) for the automated manipulation of articulated objects in a robot architecture. In particular, ASP is employed for representing the configuration of the articulated object, for checking the consistency of the knowledge base, as well as for generating the sequence of manipulation actions. The framework is validated both in simulation and on the Baxter dual-arm manipulator, showing the applicability of the ASP methodology in this complex application scenario.