Pouring a specific amount of liquid is a challenging task. In this paper we develop methods for robots to use visual feedback to perform closed-loop control for pouring liquids. We propose both a model-based and a model-free method utilizing deep learning for estimating the volume of liquid in a container. Our results show that the model-free method is better able to estimate the volume. We combine this with a simple PID controller to pour specific amounts of liquid, and show that the robot is able to achieve an average 38ml deviation from the target amount. To our knowledge, this is the first use of raw visual feedback to pour liquids in robotics.
Schenck and Fox REF propose to first estimate the volume of liquid in a container; then, a simple PID controller is used to pour specific amounts of liquid.
Visual closed-loop control for pouring liquids
2017 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)
2017 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)
Engineering Computer Science