Robot hand uses ‘skin’ to hold chopsticks, balls, and bubble wrap just right
From holding a ball to daintily grasping a chopstick, a new robotic hand developed by scientists in the UK can grab a range of objects just by moving its wrist and the feeling of its “skin”.
The 3D-printed appendage is designed to be low-cost and energy-efficient, capable of carrying out complex movements despite not being able to use each finger independently.
Professor Fumiya Iida, of the University of Cambridge‘s Bio-Inspired Robotics Laboratory, said the goal was to “simplify the hand as much as possible”.
Most advanced robots capable of feats similar to the human hand have fully motorised fingers, making them more difficult and expensive to produce.
But this cheaper alternative has proved remarkably capable across more than 1,200 tests – including knowing how much pressure to apply to a given object.
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A robotic hand daintily wielding a chopstick. Pic: University of Cambridge
‘Robot skin’ helps judge needed force
While you should instinctively know to gently handle an egg without shattering it and ruining breakfast, robots will require training to recognise the right amount of force required.
In this case, researchers implanted the hand with sensors so it could sense what it was touching.
It used trial and error to learn what kinds of grip would be successful – starting with balls and then moving on to everything from peaches and bubble wrap to a computer mouse.
Study co-author Dr Thomas George-Thuruthel, now of University College London, said the sensors were “sort of like the robot’s skin”.
“We can’t say exactly what information the robot is getting,” he added, “but it can theoretically estimate where the object has been grasped and with how much force.”
The robot can also predict whether it was going to drop an object, and adapt accordingly.
Researchers hope the robotic hand could be improved further, such as adding computer vision capabilities and teaching it to exploit its surroundings to grasp a wider range of objects.
The results are reported in the journal Advanced Intelligent Systems.
Paedophile Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins has died after being attacked in prison.
Watkins, 48, was serving a 29-year jail term for multiple sexual offences, including serious crimes against young children and babies at HMP Wakefield, in West Yorkshire.
He was attacked with a knife by another inmate on Saturday morning, sources have confirmed.
West Yorkshire Police said two men, aged 25 and 43, have been arrested on suspicion of murder.
A police van outside Wakefield prison. Pic: YappApp
Watkins was pronounced dead at the scene after prison staff reported the assault to police.
The prison went into lockdown in the immediate aftermath of the incident, sources added.
A Prison Service spokesperson said they could not comment while the police investigate.
Watkins was previously stabbed in an incident at the same prison in 2023, suffering non life-threatening injuries after he was reportedly taken hostage by three other inmates before being freed by prison officers six hours later.
He was sentenced in December 2013 to 29 years in prison, with a further six years on licence, after admitting 13 sex offences, including the attempted rape of a fan’s baby.
Watkins performing in 2004. Pic: PA
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He also encouraged a second fan to abuse her child during a webcam chat and secretly stashed child sexual abuse videos, some of which he had made himself.
At the time, police described him as a “committed, organised paedophile”.
Having found fame in Welsh rock band Lostprophets, Watkins was arrested after his Pontypridd home was searched on orders of a drug warrant in September 2012.
A large number of computers, mobile phones and storage devices were seized during the search.
When sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court, the singer was told he was being given an extended sentence – and a judge said his crimes “plumbed new depths of depravity”.
After being caught with a mobile phone behind bars in 2019, he told a court that he was locked up with “murderers, mass murderers, rapists, paedophiles, serial killers – the worst of the worst”.
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