Manipulation via Friction Modulation with Passive Roller Fingertips

First-author research project, Paper submitted to ICRA 2026

Designed and characterized passive roller mechanisms enabling reconfigurable friction constraints for dexterous manipulation.

• Developed modular robotic fingertips with passive rollers for friction modulation through selective braking and pivoting.

• Devised and integrated a compact lead-screw brake mechanism to provide strong, non-backdrivable clamping while simultaneously allowing low-friction roller pivoting

• Mounted finger modules to a Robotiq gripper to conduct manipulation experiments

This research was conducted with co-workers from RAI with the goal of exploring how passive rollers on robotic fingertips could act as constraints to enable more dexterous manipulation with low-dexterity grippers. By leveraging the contrast between rolling and non-rolling directions, controlling friction becomes more predictable, enabling controlled sliding for in-hand manipulation, adaptation to uncertain environments, and manipulation involving multiple bodies at once.