Automatic Cutting Control of Deformable Objects with Vision/Force Feedback

The study of deformable object cutting operation is at a preliminary stage. This is due to the high-dimensional deformation and time-varying topology caused by the interaction between the object and the cutting tool. This paper proposed a cutting control method based on vision and force feedback so that the tool can cut along a pre-designed trajectory automatically. Using the improved Finite Element Method (FEM), we can model the deformable object offline and update the model in real time. At the same time, the physical parameters are estimated online with visual feedback on the surface to improve the robustness of modeling errors. Through force feedback, the resistance of the cutting tool can be reduced by adopting the pressing and slicing approach, thus a precise cutting with a smaller deformation can be achieved. The proposed approach is validated by cutting soft foam experimentally.