Towards Soft Fixture-Based Manipulation Primitives Enabling Safe Robotic Manipulation in Hazardous Healthcare and Food Handling Applications

Project Information

SoftEnable

Grant agreement ID: 101070600

DOI

10.3030/101070600

Project closed

EC signature date 23 June 2022

Start date 1 October 2022

End date 30 September 2026

Funded under

• Digital, Industry and Space

Total cost

€ 2 568 721,00

EU contribution

€ 2 568 721,00

Coordinated by

KUNGLIGA TEKNISKA HOEGSKOLAN
Sweden

CORDIS provides links to public deliverables and publications of HORIZON projects.

Links to deliverables and publications from FP7 projects, as well as links to some specific result types such as dataset and software, are dynamically retrieved from OpenAIRE .

Deliverables

Demonstrators, pilots, prototypes (1)

Robotic PPE Handling evaluator system setup and initial demonstration

Other (2)

Software for Manipulation Planning with Macro States
Software for Deformable Object Shape Control with Soft Fixtures

Data Management Plan (1)

Data Management Plan

Documents, reports (6)

Ethical Project Framework towards Human Study Participants
Requirements and use case KPIs
Co-design of Hand-Held Tools Supporting Soft Fixture-Based Manipulation
Software integration framework
SOFTCARE Exploitation and Dissemination Plan
Intermediate Exploitation and Dissemination Report

Data sets, microdata, etc (2)

Dataset demonstrating soft fixture candidates
Primitive Taxonomy and Demonstration Mocap/Video Dataset for PPE handling

Primitive Taxonomy and Demonstration MocapVideo Dataset for PPE handling

Websites, patent fillings, videos etc. (1)

SOFTCARE Web-portal & Intranet

SOFTCARE Webportal Intranet

Publications

Conference proceedings (18)

Robotic Tight Packaging using a Hybrid gripper with Variable Stiffness

Author(s): M. Moroni, A.E.H. Martin, L. Klupfel, A.M. Sundaram, W. Friedl, and M.A. Roa
Published in: Towards Autonomous Robotic Systems Conference (TAROS) 2024, 2024
Publisher: Springer-Verlag

Evaluating the Pre-Dressing Step: Unfolding Medical Garments via Imitation Learning

Author(s): David Blanco-Mulero, Julia Borras, Carme Torras
Published in: 2025 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2025
Publisher: IEEE
DOI: 10.1109/IROS60139.2025.11247713

Dynamic manipulation of deformable objects using imitation learning with adaptation to hardware constraints

Author(s): E. Hannus, T. Nguyen Le, D. Blanco-Mulero and V. Kyrki
Published in: IEEE/RSJ IROS 2024
Publisher: IEEE

Zero-shot transfer of a tactile-based continuous force control policy from simulation to robot

Author(s): L.M. Lach, R. Haschke, D. Tateo, J. Peters, H. Ritter, J. Borràs and C. Torras
Published in: IEEE/RSJ IROS 2024, 2024
Publisher: IEEE

Placing by Touching: An empirical study on the importance of tactile sensing for precise object placing

Author(s): Luca Lach, Niklas Funk, Robert Haschke, Severin Lemaignan, Helge Joachim Ritter, Jan Peters, Georgia Chalvatzaki
Published in: IEEE/RSJ IROS, 2023
Publisher: IEEE/RSJ

Quasi-static Soft Fixture Analysis of Rigid and Deformable Objects

Author(s): Y. Dong, F.T. Pokorny
Published in: IEEE ICRA 2024
Publisher: IEEE

CloSE: A Geometric Shape-Agnostic Cloth State Representation

Author(s): Jay Kamat, Júlia Borràs, Carme Torras
Published in: 2026 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2026
Publisher: IEEE
DOI: 10.1109/ICRA57385.2026.11696937

A gripper for flap separation and opening of sealed bags

Author(s): Sergi Foix, Jaume Oriol, Carme Torras, Júlia Borràs
Published in: 2026 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2026
Publisher: IEEE
DOI: 10.1109/ICRA57385.2026.11697438

Scene Understanding in Deformable Object Manipulation via Taxonomy-Guided Vision-Language Models

Author(s): Gawtam Chithra Ramesh, David Blanco-Mulero, Yifei Dong, Júlia Borràs Sol, Carme Torras, Florian T. Pokorny
Publisher: ROMADO Workshop, IROS 2025

Robustness-Aware Tool Selection and Manipulation Planning with Learned Energy-Informed Guidance

Author(s): Yifei Dong, Yan Zhang, Sylvain Calinon, Florian T. Pokorny
Published in: 2026 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2026
Publisher: IEEE
DOI: 10.1109/ICRA57385.2026.11695929

Task-Oriented Stiffness Setting for a Variable Stiffness Hand

Author(s): Ana Elvira H. Martin; Ashok M. Sundaram; Werner Friedl; Virginia Ruiz Garate; Máximo A. Roa
Published in: IEEE ICRA 2023, 2023
Publisher: IEEE
DOI: 10.1109/ICRA48891.2023.10161053

A Virtual Reality Framework For Fast Dataset Creation Applied to Cloth Manipulation with Automatic Semantic Labelling

Author(s): Borràs Sol, Júlia; Boix Granell, Arnau; Foix Salmerón, Sergi; Torras, Carme
Published in: 2023 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2023
Publisher: IEEE
DOI: 10.1109/ICRA48891.2023.10161122

CageCoOpt: Enhancing Manipulation Robustness through Caging-Guided Morphology and Policy Co-Optimization

Author(s): Yifei Dong, Shaohang Han, Xianyi Cheng, Werner Friedl, Rafael I. Cabral Muchacho, Máximo A. Roa, Jana Tumova, Florian T. Pokorny
Published in: 2025 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), 2025
Publisher: IEEE
DOI: 10.1109/IROS60139.2025.11246485

Towards Transferring Tactile-based Continuous Force Control Policies from Simulation to Robot

Author(s): L Lach, R Haschke, D Tateo, J Peters, H Ritter, J Borràs, C Torras
Published in: 1st Workshop on Touch Processing: a new Sensing Modality for AI at NeurIPS 2024, 2023
Publisher: 1st Workshop on Touch Processing: a new Sensing Modality for AI at NeurIPS 2024

Adaptive Bayesian Optimization for Robotic Pushing on Thin Fragile Deformable Objects

Author(s): R. Herguedas, A. M. Sundaram, G. Lopez-Nicolas, M. A. Roa, C. Sagues
Published in: Sixth Iberian Robotics Conference. Coimbra, Portugal, 22-24 Nov 2023, 2024
Publisher: n/a
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-58676-7_28

A Human-Inspired Linear Scoop Gripper and Grasping Framework for Manipulation of Thin Deformable Food Products

Author(s): Werner Friedl, Ashok M. Sundaram, Francesco Porta, Mykhaylo Marfeychuk, Wesley Wimshurst, Mariana De Paula Assis Fonseca, Leonard Klüpfel, Jelizaveta Konstantinova, Máximo A. Roa
Published in: 2026 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics (AIM), 2026
Publisher: IEEE
DOI: 10.1109/AIM65483.2026.11658272

Soft Fixtures: Towards Practical Caging-Based Manipulation of Rigid and Deformable Objects

Author(s): Yifei Dong; Florian T. Pokorny
Published in: 3rd Workshop on Representing and Manipulating Deformable Objects at IEEE ICRA 2023, 2023
Publisher: 3rd Workshop on Representing and Manipulating Deformable Objects, ICRA2023

Advancing Robust Multi-Object Manipulation with Energy Margin

Author(s): Yifei Dong, Xianyi Cheng, Werner Friedl, Aurel Schröter, Ashok M. Sundaram, Máximo A. Roa, Florian T. Pokorny
Published in: IEEE ICRA 2024 Workshop on Multi-Object Grasping: Progress and Prospects, 2024
Publisher: IEEE ICRA 2024 Workshop on Multi-Object Grasping: Progress and Prospects

Peer reviewed articles (7)

Dual Arm Steering of Flexible Linear Objects in 2-D and 3-D Environments Using Euler's Elastica Solutions

Author(s): A. Levin, I. Grinberg, E. D. Rimon, A. Shapiro
Published in: IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, Issue 10, 2025, ISSN 2377-3766
Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
DOI: 10.1109/LRA.2025.3586475

Benchmarking the sim-to-real gap in cloth manipulation

Author(s): D. Blanco-Mulero, O. Barbany, G. Alcan, A. Colomé, C. Torras and V. Kyrki
Published in: IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, Issue 9, 2024, ISSN 2377-3766
Publisher: IEEE
DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2509.23926

Unfolding the literature: a review of robotic cloth manipulation

Author(s): A. Longhini, Y. Wang, I. Garcia-Camacho, D. Blanco-Mulero, M. Moletta, M.C. Welle, G. Alenyà, H. Yin, Z. Erickson, D. Held, J. Borràs and D. Kragic
Published in: Annual Review of Control, Robotics, and Autonomous Systems, Issue 8, ISSN 0000-0000
Publisher: Annual Review of Control, Robotics, and Autonomous Systems
DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2407.01361

A context-adaptive policy framework for robust and reactive robotic manipulation via uncertainty-aware imitation learning

Author(s): Tim R. Winter, Leonard Klüpfel, Ashok M. Sundaram, Werner Friedl, Maximo A. Roa, Freek Stulp, João Silvério
Published in: Robotics and Autonomous Systems, Issue 205, 2026, ISSN 0921-8890
Publisher: Elsevier BV
DOI: 10.1016/J.ROBOT.2026.105649

Characterizing Manipulation Robustness Through Energy Margin and Caging Analysis

Author(s): Yifei Dong; Xianyi Cheng; Florian T. Pokorny
Published in: IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, Issue 9, 2024, ISSN 0000-0000
Publisher: IEEE
DOI: 10.48550/ARXIV.2404.12115

Evaluation of different robotic grippers for simultaneous multi-object grasping

Author(s): Friedl, Werner
Published in: Frontiers in Robotics and AI, Issue 11, 2024, ISSN 0000-0000
Publisher: Frontiers in Robotics and AI
DOI: 10.3389/FROBT.2024.1351932

Ethics of Social Robotics: Individual and Societal Concerns and Opportunities

Author(s): Torras, Carme
Published in: Annual Review of Control, Robotics, and Autonomous Systems, Issue 7, 2024, ISSN 0000-0000
Publisher: Annual Reviews
DOI: 10.1146/ANNUREV-CONTROL-062023-082238