The latest robot creation is rooted in human anatomy. Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne have developed a robotic hand with a broader range of motion than anything made of flesh and blood: It can detach from an arm and skitter around, bend its fingers backward and even pick up and maneuver multiple objects at a time.
The detachable robotic hand, described in an article published Tuesday in Nature Communications, was developed in two phases. The first version of the robot had five fingers and exhibited dexterity and agility comparable to the human hand while still navigating confined spaces.
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The second version of the robot utilized a sixth finger to further manipulate grasped objects. The six-fingered robot was able to pinch and lift a small ball and use its fingers to simultaneously hold objects against both sides of its palm. When attached to an arm, the hand can pick up larger objects the same way a human would.
The most impressive display of dexterity came from a simple test with a mustard bottle. The robotic hand unscrewed the cap while holding the bottle in place, demonstrating a high level of fine motor control.
The research team commented on this extensive control in their article, explaining how the robot hand can surpass typical human constraints.Â
"While our robotic hand can perform common grasping modes like human hands, our design exceeds human capabilities by allowing any combination of fingers to form opposing finger pairs, enabling simultaneous multi-object grasping with fewer fingers and non-anthropomorphic grasping," the team noted in the article.
A representative for the research project did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Researchers hope that the hand may one day aid in tight disaster relief situations or support warehouse and factory workers.
"The ability to crawl directly to a target object and grasp it also enables efficient handling in environments such as warehouses, where objects may be located within dense shelving," the team wrote. "Or in service robotics, where the system can autonomously retrieve dropped items."
In their article, the research team wrote that they hope their "non-traditional configuration could effectively serve in specialized environments requiring augmented manipulation abilities." While the proposed robotic hand is not anthropomorphic, it doesn't rule out its potential for prosthetic applications.