Simulation-Driven Evolutionary Motion Parameterization for Contact-Rich Granular Scooping with a Soft Conical Robotic Hand

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Wang, Yongliang, Beltran-Hernandez, Cristian C., Takahashi, Tomoya, Hamaya, Masashi
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2026
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author Wang, Yongliang
Beltran-Hernandez, Cristian C.
Takahashi, Tomoya
Hamaya, Masashi
author_facet Wang, Yongliang
Beltran-Hernandez, Cristian C.
Takahashi, Tomoya
Hamaya, Masashi
contents Tool-based scooping is vital in robot-assisted tasks, enabling interaction with objects of varying sizes, shapes, and material states. Recent studies have shown that flexible, reconfigurable soft robotic end-effectors can adapt their shape to maintain consistent contact with container surfaces during scooping, improving efficiency compared to rigid tools. These soft tools can adjust to varying container sizes and materials without requiring complex sensing or control. However, the inherent compliance and complex deformation behavior of soft robotics introduce significant control complexity that limits practical applications. To address this challenge, this paper presents the development of a physics-based simulation model of a deformable soft conical robotic hand that captures its passive reconfiguration dynamics and enables systematic trajectory optimization for scooping tasks. We propose a novel physics-based simulation approach that accurately models the soft tool's morphing behavior from flat sheets to adaptive conical structures, combined with an evolutionary strategy framework that automatically optimizes scooping trajectories without manual parameter tuning. We validate the optimized trajectories through both simulation and real-robot experiments. The results demonstrate strong generalization and successfully address a range of challenging tasks previously beyond the reach of existing approaches. Videos of our experiments are available online: https://sites.google.com/view/scoopsh
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_05531
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Simulation-Driven Evolutionary Motion Parameterization for Contact-Rich Granular Scooping with a Soft Conical Robotic Hand
Wang, Yongliang
Beltran-Hernandez, Cristian C.
Takahashi, Tomoya
Hamaya, Masashi
Robotics
Tool-based scooping is vital in robot-assisted tasks, enabling interaction with objects of varying sizes, shapes, and material states. Recent studies have shown that flexible, reconfigurable soft robotic end-effectors can adapt their shape to maintain consistent contact with container surfaces during scooping, improving efficiency compared to rigid tools. These soft tools can adjust to varying container sizes and materials without requiring complex sensing or control. However, the inherent compliance and complex deformation behavior of soft robotics introduce significant control complexity that limits practical applications. To address this challenge, this paper presents the development of a physics-based simulation model of a deformable soft conical robotic hand that captures its passive reconfiguration dynamics and enables systematic trajectory optimization for scooping tasks. We propose a novel physics-based simulation approach that accurately models the soft tool's morphing behavior from flat sheets to adaptive conical structures, combined with an evolutionary strategy framework that automatically optimizes scooping trajectories without manual parameter tuning. We validate the optimized trajectories through both simulation and real-robot experiments. The results demonstrate strong generalization and successfully address a range of challenging tasks previously beyond the reach of existing approaches. Videos of our experiments are available online: https://sites.google.com/view/scoopsh
title Simulation-Driven Evolutionary Motion Parameterization for Contact-Rich Granular Scooping with a Soft Conical Robotic Hand
topic Robotics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.05531