Robot hands are getting better @chris_j_paxton
Article excerpt
Chris Paxton takes a look at why robot hands are hard and what research is currently being done. Robots need to be able to interact with the world in order to be useful. They do this in many ways: by driving around and taking pictures during inspection tasks, by walking up and down stairs. Military […]
Chris Paxton takes a look at why robot hands are hard and what research is currently being done.
Robots need to be able to interact with the world in order to be useful. They do this in many ways: by driving around and taking pictures during inspection tasks, by walking up and down stairs. Military robots often interact with the world by exploding. But increasingly, we want useful robots to manipulate their environment and perform human-level tasks, which requires a gripper or hand.
The problem is that human hands are incredibly capable, they’re a high bar. Human hands are strong, light, adaptive, and self-healing. The human fingertip has ~2,500 touch receptors per square centimeter, with roughly 22 degrees of freedom. It can move at high speeds while applying significant force.
There’s no version of the world, I think, where in 5 years there are not good, dexterous, capable hands for a few thousand dollars price, ready for integration into different robots and products.
You should probably plan accordingly.
See all the details in the article here. Via BlueSky.