Single-Sheet Separation from Paper Stack Based on Friction Uncertainty Using High-Speed Robot Hand

The successful separation of a single sheet from a stack of paper is considered a paper-handling goal when using a robot hand. Under the condition of uncertain friction coefficients, a stochastic algorithm introducing randomness is formulated, which converges a paper stack to a state of single-sheet separation through the repetition of simple robot operations. This formulation is based on the proposed motion strategy for a robotic hand, which introduces a state of a partially separated paper bundle to temporarily allow the simultaneous separation of multiple sheets and a return operation to return the paper to the original paper bundle. The experimental results indicate that a single sheet can be completely separated from a vertically standing stack of business-card-sized papers by shifting the paper in a high-speed translational movement using two fingers of the robot hand that grasp the paper from both sides.