Automatic grasping task with a catadioptric sensor for disabled people

This paper deals with the design of a robotic platform providing a grasping procedure to assist disabled persons. Like most of the vision-based systems, the camera used to guide the arm toward the object is embedded onto the gripper, which gives a very local view of the environment. We propose to use a catadioptric sensor in order to deal with situations where the object of interest is out of the embedded camera field of view. The mirror used has been especially designed for our robot, satisfying several constraints of the final application. The solution proposed respects one of the main matters of all systems designed for disabled persons, reduce the user strain. A single click is necessary to position the robotic arm toward the direction of the object. Clinical evaluations realized during one month in four medical centers with about 40 users confirm the validity of our system.