Manipulation

Push Manipulation

Push manipulation is the nonprehensile repositioning of objects by pushing them across a support surface rather than grasping them. Mason's 1986 analysis of pushing mechanics founded the field, characterizing how objects rotate and translate under frictional point and edge contacts. Pushing serves to singulate cluttered objects, move items too large or flat to grasp, and reposition objects into graspable poses.

Why it matters for physical AI

Pushing is the simplest contact-rich skill exhibiting the uncertainty and hybrid dynamics that make manipulation hard, which is why planar pushing remains a favored benchmark for learned dynamics models and policies.