A 3D shape segmentation approach for robot grasping by parts

Neuro-psychological findings have shown that human perception of objects is based on part decomposition. Most objects are made of multiple parts which are likely to be the entities actually involved in grasp affordances. Therefore, automatic object recognition and robot grasping should take advantage from 3D shape segmentation. This paper presents an approach toward planning robot grasps across similar objects by part correspondence. The novelty of the method lies in the topological decomposition of objects that enables high-level semantic grasp planning.In particular, given a 3D model of an object, the representation is initially segmented by computing its Reeb graph. Then, automatic object recognition and part annotation are performed by applying a shape retrieval algorithm. After the recognition phase, queries are accepted for planning grasps on individual parts of the object. Finally, a robot grasp planner is invoked for finding stable grasps on the selected part of the object. Grasps are evaluated according to a widely used quality measure. Experiments performed in a simulated environment on a reasonably large dataset show the potential of topological segmentation to highlight candidate parts suitable for grasping.

► A method for planning robot grasps across similar objects by part correspondence.
► Topological decomposition of objects enables high-level semantic grasp planning.
► Reeb graphs are used for object segmentation and grasping.
► Evaluation of part-based object recognition and grasping by part capabilities.