Manipulation

Approach Direction

An approach direction is the vector along which a gripper or tool moves toward an object during the final phase of a grasp or insertion, usually expressed in the object or grasp frame. Grasp representations commonly encode it together with the gripper orientation and width, and planners constrain it to avoid collisions with clutter, respect kinematic reachability, and align with task requirements such as top-down picking from bins.

Why it matters for physical AI

Grasps that score well geometrically can still fail if the approach sweeps through clutter or exceeds the arm's reachable workspace, so approach reasoning is where grasp detection meets motion planning in real systems.