Robohub.org
 

Peter K. Allen: Multi-Modal Geometric Learning for Grasping | CMU RI Seminar


by
01 December 2018



share this:

Link to video on YouTube

Abstract: “In this talk, we will describe methods to enable robots to grasp novel objects using multi-modal data and machine. The starting point is an architecture to enable robotic grasp planning via shape completion using a single occluded depth view of objects. Shape completion is accomplished through the use of a 3D CNN. The network is trained on our open source dataset of over 440,000 3D exemplars captured from varying viewpoints. At runtime, a pointcloud captured from a single point of view is fed into the CNN, which fills in the occluded regions of the scene, allowing grasps to be planned and executed on the completed object, which extends to novel objects as well. We have extended this network to incorporate both depth and tactile information. Offline, the network is provided with both simulated depth and tactile information and trained to predict the object’s geometry, thus filling in regions of occlusion. At runtime, the network is provided a partial view of an object and exploratory tactile information is acquired to augment the captured depth information. We demonstrate that even small amounts of additional tactile information can be incredibly helpful in reasoning about object geometry. We also provide experimental results comparing grasping success using our method.”




John Payne


Subscribe to Robohub newsletter on substack



Related posts :

Robot Talk Episode 152 – Dexterous robot hands, with Rich Walker

  17 Apr 2026
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Rich Walker from Shadow Robot Company about their advanced robotic hands for research and industry.

What I’ve learned from 25 years of automated science, and what the future holds: an interview with Ross King

and   14 Apr 2026
Ross King created the first robot scientist back in 2009. He spoke to us about the nature of scientific discovery, the role AI has to play, and his recent work in DNA computing.

Robot Talk Episode 151 – Robots to study the ocean, with Simona Aracri

  10 Apr 2026
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Simona Aracri from National Research Council of Italy about innovative robot designs for oceanography and environmental monitoring.

Generative AI improves a wireless vision system that sees through obstructions

  08 Apr 2026
With this new technique, a robot could more accurately detect hidden objects or understand an indoor scene using reflected Wi-Fi signals.

Resource-constrained image generation and visual understanding: an interview with Aniket Roy

  07 Apr 2026
Aniket tells us about his research exploring how modern generative models can be adapted to operate efficiently while maintaining strong performance.

Back to school: robots learn from factory workers

  02 Apr 2026
A Czech startup is making factory automation easier by letting workers teach robots new tasks through simple demonstrations instead of complex coding.

Resource-sharing boosts robotic resilience

  31 Mar 2026
When a modular robot shares power, sensing, and communication resources among its individual units, it is significantly more resistant to failure than traditional robotic systems.

Robot Talk Episode 150 – House building robots, with Vikas Enti

  27 Mar 2026
In the latest episode of the Robot Talk podcast, Claire chatted to Vikas Enti from Reframe Systems about using robotics and automation to build climate-resilient, high-performance homes.



Robohub is supported by:


Subscribe to Robohub newsletter on substack




 















©2026.02 - Association for the Understanding of Artificial Intelligence