Robotic perception and manipulation of deformable linear objects: A survey

Deformable linear objects (DLOs) are widely encountered in everyday life, taking forms such as plastic tubes, wires, ropes, and cables. They are prevalent across diverse settings, including industrial, domestic, and medical environments, as well as in outdoor applications like electric power lines, subaquatic cables, and aerial transport systems. These objects are termed deformable due to their ability to undergo significant shape changes under external forces, and linear because their length vastly exceeds their cross-sectional dimensions. Despite their importance and widespread presence, developing robotic systems capable of interacting with DLOs poses numerous challenges. This survey presents a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art methods developed over the past decade to address these challenges. It covers key areas including physical and data-driven modeling techniques, simulation environments, perception approaches based on vision and tactile sensing, as well as strategies for estimation, planning, and control. It also reviews common manipulation tasks such as grasping, shaping, routing, knotting, suturing, and transport. The survey concludes with a critical discussion of current limitations and outlines promising directions for future research.