{"ID":2887051,"CreatedAt":"2026-06-01T04:54:23.091178241Z","UpdatedAt":"2026-06-01T04:54:23.091178241Z","DeletedAt":null,"paper_url":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.02604","arxiv_id":"2508.02604","title":"Periodic robust robotic rock chop via virtual model control","abstract":"Robotic cutting is a challenging contact-rich manipulation task where the robot must simultaneously negotiate unknown object mechanics, large contact forces, and precise motion requirements. We introduce a new active virtual-model control scheme that enables knife rocking motion for robot manipulators, without pre-planned trajectories or precise information of the environment. Motion is generated and controlled through switching virtual coupling with virtual mechanisms, given by virtual springs, dampers, and masses arranged in a suitable way. Through analysis and experiments, we demonstrate that the controlled robot behavior settles into a periodic motion. Experiments with a Franka manipulator demonstrate robust cuts with five different vegetables, and sub-millimeter slice accuracy from 1 mm to 6 mm at nearly one cut per second. The same controller survives changes in knife shape and cutting board height, and adaptation to a different humanoid manipulator, demonstrating robustness and platform independence.","short_abstract":"Robotic cutting is a challenging contact-rich manipulation task where the robot must simultaneously negotiate unknown object mechanics, large contact forces, and precise motion requirements. We introduce a new active virtual-model control scheme that enables knife rocking motion for robot manipulators, without pre-plan...","url_abs":"https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.02604","url_pdf":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2508.02604v2","authors":"[\"Yi Zhang\",\"Fumiya Iida\",\"Fulvio Forni\"]","published":"2025-08-04T16:56:32Z","proceeding":"cs.RO","tasks":"[\"cs.RO\",\"eess.SY\"]","methods":"[]","has_code":false}