How a character from ‘The Addams Family’ is shaping the future of robotics
Robotic hands usually come bolted to the wrist of a mechanical arm, waiting for their humanoid owners to move them over to whatever knob or valve needs turning. However, at ETH Zürich’s Soft Robotics Lab , a group of roboticists decided to get rid of the body, designing a self-contained hand that crawls across surfaces, balances its own weight, and manipulates objects using only its five digits.…
The ETH Zürich Soft Robotics Lab has created a self-contained robotic hand inspired by Thing, the disembodied butler from The Addams Family. The hand, which can crawl across surfaces, balance its own weight, and manipulate objects using only its five digits, could revolutionize the future of robotics. By enabling parts to function independently of a whole, it offers more sophisticated operating capabilities.
The researchers, led by Amirhossein Kazemipour, Hehui Zheng, and Robert Katzschmann, aimed to solve the challenge of creating a system that can move and dexterously interact with objects in confined spaces. Their innovative approach bypasses the need for bulky wheels or secondary limbs, using standard quadruped gait rewards to train an AI-controlled hand to walk like a scurrying spider.
This breakthrough could lead to modular robotic systems that can operate in tight spaces, assisting in tasks such as evaluating damaged buildings or inspecting pipe networks.
Written by urgent.news from Fast Company's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
