Method for controlling a robot for manipulating, in particular picking up, an object

A robot control device configured to control a robot for manipulating, including picking up, an object, the robot control device configured to:

• create an image which depicts the object;
• generate a manipulation-quality image from the image, in which, for each pixel which represents a point on a surface of the object, the pixel value of the pixel provides an assessment of how well the object may be manipulated at the point;
• record descriptors:
• (i) of points of the object which, according to a user input, should be used during the manipulation, and/or (ii) of points which, according to a user input, should be avoided during the manipulation;
• map the image onto a descriptor image;
• generate a manipulation-preference image by comparing the recorded descriptors of points to the descriptor image, wherein in the manipulation-preference image, for each pixel which represents a point on a surface of the object, a pixel value of the pixel provides an assessment of whether the object should be manipulated at the point;
• select a point for manipulating the object taking into account the pixel values of the manipulation-quality image and the pixel values of the manipulation-preference image;
• and
• control the robot to manipulate the object at the selected point.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium on which are stored commands for controlling a robot for manipulating, including picking up, an object, the commands, when executed by a processor, causing the processor to perform the following steps:

• creating an image which depicts the object;
• generating a manipulation-quality image from the image, in which, for each pixel which represents a point on a surface of the object, the pixel value of the pixel provides an assessment of how well the object may be manipulated at the point;
• recording descriptors:
• (i) of points of the object which, according to a user input, should be used during the manipulation, and/or (ii) of points which, according to a user input, should be avoided during the manipulation;
• mapping the image onto a descriptor image;
• generating a manipulation-preference image by comparing the recorded descriptors of points to the descriptor image, wherein in the manipulation-preference image, for each pixel which represents a point on a surface of the object, a pixel value of the pixel provides an assessment of whether the object should be manipulated at the point;
• selecting a point for manipulating the object taking into account the pixel values of the manipulation-quality image and the pixel values of the manipulation-preference image;
• and
• controlling the robot to manipulate the object at the selected point.