We present object handling and transport by a multi-robot team with a deformable sheet as a carrier. Due to the deformability of the sheet and the high dimension of the whole system, it is challenging to clearly describe all the possible positions of the object on the sheet for a given formation of the multi-robot system. A complete forward kinematics (FK) method is proposed in this paper for object handling by an $N$-mobile robot team with a deformable sheet. Based on the virtual variable cables model, a constrained quadratic problem (CQP) is formulated by combining the form closure and minimum potential energy conditions of the system. Analytical solutions to the CQP are presented and then further verified with the force closure condition. With the proposed FK method, all possible solutions are obtained with the given initial sheet shape and the robot team formation. We demonstrate the effectiveness, completeness, and efficiency of the FK method with simulation and experimental results.

翻译：本文研究了由多机器人团队利用可变形板材作为载体进行物体搬运与运输的问题。由于板材的可变形性以及整个系统的高维特性，当给定多机器人系统的编队时，清晰描述物体在板材上所有可能位置具有挑战性。本文针对 $N$ 个移动机器人团队通过可变形板材搬运物体，提出了一种完整的正向运动学方法。基于虚拟可变长度绳索模型，结合系统的形封闭与最小势能条件，构建了一个带约束的二次规划问题。给出了该问题的解析解，并通过力封闭条件进一步验证。利用所提出的正向运动学方法，在给定初始板材形状与机器人团队编队的情况下，可获得所有可能解。通过仿真与实验结果，验证了该方法的有效性、完备性与高效性。