Manip4Care: Robotic Manipulation of Human Limbs for Solving Assistive Tasks

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Koh, Yubin, Qureshi, Ahmed H.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Koh, Yubin
Qureshi, Ahmed H.
author_facet Koh, Yubin
Qureshi, Ahmed H.
contents Enabling robots to grasp and reposition human limbs can significantly enhance their ability to provide assistive care to individuals with severe mobility impairments, particularly in tasks such as robot-assisted bed bathing and dressing. However, existing assistive robotics solutions often assume that the human remains static or quasi-static, limiting their effectiveness. To address this issue, we present Manip4Care, a modular simulation pipeline that enables robotic manipulators to grasp and reposition human limbs effectively. Our approach features a physics simulator equipped with built-in techniques for grasping and repositioning while considering biomechanical and collision avoidance constraints. Our grasping method employs antipodal sampling with force closure to grasp limbs, and our repositioning system utilizes the Model Predictive Path Integral (MPPI) and vector-field-based control method to generate motion trajectories under collision avoidance and biomechanical constraints. We evaluate this approach across various limb manipulation tasks in both supine and sitting positions and compare outcomes for different age groups with differing shoulder joint limits. Additionally, we demonstrate our approach for limb manipulation using a real-world mannequin and further showcase its effectiveness in bed bathing tasks.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_02649
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Manip4Care: Robotic Manipulation of Human Limbs for Solving Assistive Tasks
Koh, Yubin
Qureshi, Ahmed H.
Robotics
Enabling robots to grasp and reposition human limbs can significantly enhance their ability to provide assistive care to individuals with severe mobility impairments, particularly in tasks such as robot-assisted bed bathing and dressing. However, existing assistive robotics solutions often assume that the human remains static or quasi-static, limiting their effectiveness. To address this issue, we present Manip4Care, a modular simulation pipeline that enables robotic manipulators to grasp and reposition human limbs effectively. Our approach features a physics simulator equipped with built-in techniques for grasping and repositioning while considering biomechanical and collision avoidance constraints. Our grasping method employs antipodal sampling with force closure to grasp limbs, and our repositioning system utilizes the Model Predictive Path Integral (MPPI) and vector-field-based control method to generate motion trajectories under collision avoidance and biomechanical constraints. We evaluate this approach across various limb manipulation tasks in both supine and sitting positions and compare outcomes for different age groups with differing shoulder joint limits. Additionally, we demonstrate our approach for limb manipulation using a real-world mannequin and further showcase its effectiveness in bed bathing tasks.
title Manip4Care: Robotic Manipulation of Human Limbs for Solving Assistive Tasks
topic Robotics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.02649