Taxonomy of Deformable Object Shape Control

Deformable object shape control involves the autonomous manipulation of deformable objects so that they acquire a desired target shape. This constitutes a vast challenge due to the wide variety of deformable object types and manipulation methods. The multidisciplinary nature of shape control spans fields such as deformable solid mechanics, control engineering, robotics and computer science. Therefore, existing approaches often focus on particular sub-problems and propose specific sets of definitions and constraints. This diversity complicates the analysis, characterisation, and comparison of methods, as existing works often differ in scope and terminology. In this paper, we present a practical taxonomy of shape control elements for effective identification and characterisation of shape control methods. Seeking consensus among relevant disciplines, our taxonomy aims to bring clarity to this rather complex problem. We illustrate our taxonomy's applicability and use it to classify characteristics of several representative shape control methods.