IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,728,542
Granted Patent B2
US 12,728,542 · App. 19/091,410 · Granted Sep 8, 2026

Controlling robotic devices to perform tasks

Inventors: Dariusz Golda (Portola Valley, CA); Harry Zhe Su (Union City, CA); Darshan Hegde (San Mateo, CA); Qingkai Lu (Sunnyvale, CA)
Assignee: Tacta Systems Inc.
B25J13/082B25J9/163B25J9/1633B25J15/0009
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,728,542
App. No.
19/091,410
Granted
Sep 8, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A method for controlling a robotic device to perform a task may include determining a force measurement corresponding to a section of sensors coupled with a digit of a plurality of digits of a robotic device. The force measurement may include a magnitude of a force and a position of a centroid of the force in the section that are determined based on contact with an object corresponding to a time. The method may further include determining a digit position of the digit corresponding to the time, and moving the digit, based on a prediction, to stabilize the object to perform a task. A machine learning model can generate the prediction based on the force measurement and the digit position. Other aspects are also described and claimed.

Claims (29)

1 . A method for controlling a robotic device to perform a task, comprising:

determining a force measurement corresponding to a section of sensors coupled with a digit of a plurality of digits of a robotic device, wherein the force measurement includes a magnitude of a force and a position of a centroid of the force in the section that are determined based on contact with an object corresponding to a time;

determining a digit position of the digit corresponding to the time; and

moving the digit, based on a prediction, to stabilize the object to perform a task, wherein a machine learning model generates the prediction based on the force measurement and the digit position.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the machine learning model is trained based on force measurements from a section of sensors coupled with a digit of a demonstration device utilized to perform the task with a demonstration object.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the machine learning model comprises a plurality of encoders, an activation layer, a fully connected layer, and a decoder.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the machine learning model operates on a vector comprising a concatenation of features extracted from force measurements, digit positions, and target data.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the prediction moves multiple digits of the plurality of digits in contact with the object to achieve an equilibrium of the object.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the digit is a robotic thumb, and wherein the prediction moves a robotic finger having a section of sensors and the robotic thumb in contact with the object to achieve an equilibrium of the object.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the machine learning model generates the prediction based on force measurements and digit positions corresponding to a plurality of times determined by a sampling frequency.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the machine learning model generates the prediction based on a plurality of force measurements and a plurality of digit positions corresponding to a plurality of digits in contact with the object.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the digit is a robotic finger or thumb having at least one section of force sensors.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the section is wrapped in three dimensions over the digit, and wherein the position of the centroid includes X, Y, Z coordinates.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the force measurement comprises a force vector that is normal to the section to indicate a normal force.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the force measurement comprises a force vector that is tangential to the section to indicate a shear force.

13 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

utilizing a decrease of force in a frame of the section to detect slip of the object in contact with the digit.

14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the digit position comprises one or more angles corresponding to one or more joints of the digit.

15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the magnitude of the force and the position of the centroid are determined based on an instantaneous distribution of forces among sensors of the section.

16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the position of the centroid is determined based on a local coordinate frame of the section.

17 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the digit is moved to achieve a target pose of the object specified by at least one of cartesian positions, Euler angles, or quaternions.

18 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the digit is moved to achieve a target image of the object comprising an RGB-D image.

19 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the digit is moved to achieve a target force profile comprising an array of force vectors or a single force vector and a corresponding centroid location.

20 . A system utilized to perform a task with an object, comprising:

a robotic device having a plurality of digits, each digit having a section of sensors; and

one or more processors executing instructions stored in memory to:

determine a force measurement corresponding to a section of a digit of the plurality of digits, wherein the force measurement includes a magnitude of a force and a position of a centroid of the force in the section that are determined based on contact with an object corresponding to a time;

determine a digit position of the digit corresponding to the time; and

move the digit, based on a prediction, to stabilize the object to perform a task, wherein a machine learning model generates the prediction based on the force measurement and the digit position.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 31, 2025
From: GOLDA, DARIUSZ; SU, HARRY ZHE; HEGDE, DARSHAN; LU, QINGKAI
To: TACTA SYSTEMS INC.
Reel/Frame 070684/0143 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 63701346 · Sep 30, 2024
Related Publication 20260091508A1 · Apr 2, 2026
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