Intel researchers give robotic hands more sense

While robotic hands typically have no trouble demolishing objects they grab, Intel researchers are looking to make these stereotypically brawny gizmos a bit more sensitive. The technology, dubbed pre-touch, incorporates sensors into a mechanical hand, which enables it to scan objects before it grabs them and react accordingly. Notably, the goal is to "improve the ability of robots to grasp objects in unstructured human environments," potentially making them more useful in the home. Go on, check out the video below -- it won't pinch.

[Via The Raw Feed]
Read - Robots that sense before they touch
Read - Pre-touch video demonstration

[Arnaud @ Sep 18th 2007 12:20AM]

I'd like to see it try to grab an egg
Pretty interesting though

[Mat @ Sep 18th 2007 12:41AM]

In that video it appeared to grab nothing. It was also awful slow for something controlled by a computer that can do billions of calculations a second.

[robert @ Sep 18th 2007 12:42AM]

In soviet russia, the robot hands you!

uh...?

[NovaLand @ Sep 18th 2007 1:24AM]

What kind of robot can work in "unstructured human environments" but still need to be familuar with all the objects it might encounter? I'd remove that "un-" and call it simply "some new shit.."

[[e-mail] @ Sep 18th 2007 1:53AM]

IT WONT PINCH!!!

CLAP CLAP

Kill yourself.

[gaja @ Sep 18th 2007 5:58AM]

Now that Intel is trying to teach robots to scan an object before touching it to detect and identify what the object is and how much of pressure will be needed to handle it . Imagine a robot babysitter or a robot whisking eggs to make a cake. Sounds funny but in reality robots already do under water exploration and do some the tasks that are too dangerous for humans to do. Hey maybe one day robots will be firefighters which I like the best because they can be designed to withstand high heat and have no sense of fear or heights.
Edit/Delete Message

[Kevlar @ Sep 18th 2007 3:25AM]

I, for one, welcome our new pre-grab scanning dexterous overlords.

Wait a second... this isn't Slashdot!

[dj_modus_ponens @ Sep 18th 2007 4:06AM]

from the article it sounds like this is only for proximity sensing. as in, it's a way for the arm to 'know' it's surroundings, but before interacting. if so, how is this better than something like sonar?

i always thought force-feedback was the way to go. put a bunch of little pressure-sensors around the gripping surface, so that the arm 'knows' how hard it's squeezing. couple that with a powerglove-like remote control that increases squeeze resistance in response (ferrofluid? gear control?), and you've got yourself something for delicate remote handling. or the start of a gundam.

[blackfeather @ Sep 18th 2007 3:43PM]

So after the robots take all our baby bell cheeses, what will we do then? This must stop now before it is too late.

[samuel.bouchard.1 @ Sep 18th 2007 4:00PM]

If you want to see a robotic hand grabbing an egg with simple and way cheaper control:
http://robot.gmc.ulaval.ca/en/research/theme303.html

[t3_slider @ Sep 18th 2007 10:13PM]

Mmm, Babybel!

[Arinthros @ Sep 24th 2007 10:29AM]

I designed something similar to this in Engineering class at Michigan Technological University. We had our robot measure force in the "claws" as it was grabbing an object. Based on AI, once it reached a certain force, it stopped gripping and brought the object to the user. We never actually built the robot, but the simulations seemed to work.
The whole thing was more than just the hand, but we did incorporate this idea of not crushing stuff into the design. My point: there are better ways to go about doing this.