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OpenAI's Dactyl system improves the dexterity of robot hands
It's still early days in creating the kind of human-like androids we see in the movies, but new research brings us ever closer to the idea. Boston Dynamics has become the de facto image of locomotion for both humans and their pets, while LG already has its CLOi porter 'bots and DARPA is working on centaur-like designs for disaster relief. Now, researchers at the Elon Musk-founded OpenAI are working on making robot hands more dextrous.
ICYMI: Smart surfboard, robot hand that can learn and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-234543{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-234543, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-234543{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-234543").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: A University of Washington robot hand has an algorithm in it that knows what works and what doesn't when handling things, and can improve itself over time. Samsung Brasil made a smart surfboard for a professional surfer that shows water conditions and incoming texts, and researchers hacked movies to include the visual style of art masters. Mass transit fiends will want to know how the hyperloop test in Nevada went. As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
MIT's new robot glove can give you extra fingers
Have you ever wondered if five fingers is really enough? The folks at MIT have. Researchers in the institute's department of mechanical engineering have created a robotic glove that adds two additional digits to the standard human claw, positioning two long fingers on either side of the hand. It's ridiculously easy to use, too. "You do not need to command the robot, but simply move your fingers naturally." Ford Professor of Engineering Harry Asada says. "Then the robotic fingers react and assist your fingers." The glove's movements are based on biomechanical synergy, the idea that each finger reacts to the movements of its peers - if you try to grasp a bottle, the glove's extra fingers will try to help.
Willow Garage may sell its Velo robot gripper early, if you ask nicely
Some have called Willow Garage's health into question lately, but the company may have a minor hit on its hands -- if through an unexpected channel. The firm has seen a strong enough response to its Velo robot gripper that it's mulling an early sale of the device this fall, at an educational price somewhere between $500 and $1,000. Whether or not that happens depends on feedback, however. Willow Garage is both offering notification sign-ups and running a feature survey -- if you need a different interface or better performance, now's the time to speak up. There's no guarantee of receiving a Velo when the company might ship just 50 to 100 of the advance units, but you won't get one if you don't ask, will you?
DARPA's low-cost robotic hand gets put through its paces (video)
This three-fingered manipulator has just about everything you could ever want in a robotic hand. It's relatively low-cost, it's powerful, it's capable of picking up objects both large and small, and it's robust. In fact, we've already seen the thing used as a tee for an aluminum bat. The hand, which was developed by researchers at iRobot, Harvard and Yale, was created as part of DARPA's ARM Hardware (ARM-H), a program track focused on the creation of inexpensive, dexterous hands. According to its creators, the key here is "function rather than trying to mimic a human hand," which helped bring down the cost of building the three-fingered grasper. Check out a video of the Ninja Turtle-esque gripper getting put through its paces -- and strengthening its core with a 50-pound kettle bell -- after the break.
DARPA working on low-cost robot hands, aims to make yours even more idle (video)
In a bid to crush those typically high robot-making costs, DARPA and its business partners (including iRobot) reckon they can now build high-end robot hands for under $3,000, down from what was once a $10,000 premium. According to The New York Times, the government, specifically the Pentagon, is looking to craft robot mitts that are able to detect improvised explosive devices by touch alone -- something that DARPA's worked on before. To demonstrate the progress it's made so far, the department's released a clip of one of its robots (update: featuring Barrett's WAM arms) stripping a car tire -- you'll find it after the break. Now it just needs to figure out how to get it back on to the wheel.
Touch Bionics releases new prosthetic fingers, flips the old ones the bird
The only upgrades available for our puny human hands are gaming controller calluses, but if you're sporting an i-LIMB digits hand prosthesis, you can now grab a set of improved fingers. Touch Bionics' "smaller, lighter and more anatomically accurate" appendages are now available worldwide, as well as a new wrist-band unit which houses all the necessary computing power and juice for their function. Best of all, these developments allow more people to adopt the tech than the previous generation, including those with more petite hands or finger amputations closer to the knuckle. We don't know how much it'll cost for a fresh set, but we'll let health agencies and insurance companies deal with that part. With these upgrades and RSL Steeper's latest offering, it won't be long before our flesh-based variants are meager in comparison.
Rethinking the robot hand at Harvard (video)
Should you ever find yourself needing to discuss the state of the robotic hand in the early 21st century, Harvard professor Robert Howe seems about as good a place to start as any. The professor founded the school's BioRobotics Laboratory in 1990 and has devoted a good deal of his time to the quest for perfect robot extremities. The last few years have seen a number of breakthroughs for Howe and his team including, notably, the SDM (Shape Deposit Manufacturing) hand, an adaptable and rugged robot gripper that utilizes a single motor to manipulate its eight joints. Such machines have, in the past, often relied on precise image sensing to determine the exact size and shape of an object, in order to configure their digits perfectly before attempting to pick it up. The SDM hand is a lot more forgiving. The pulley system at play distributes equal tension to the fingers in an adaptive transmission that allows motion to continue in other fingers, should one's movement be hampered. The joints themselves are extremely compliant as well, adapting and conforming to the shape of an object, thanks in part to their ability to pivot in three dimensions. The Shape Deposit Manufacturing technology used to create the fingers, meanwhile, adds an important level of durability, letting Howe bang them against a table (a trick he happily performed for us) and expose them to water -- both features that are quite often absent in more complex (and far more expensive) models. The SDM technology, developed at Stanford, allows for the creation of fingers that are a single piece, with their parts embedded in plastic. The larger model shown off by Howe serves as great visual when describing the benefits of the single motor system, but the team has also developed a smaller version, with the requisite motors embedded in a far more compact chassis, which we also got a peek at. The hand will likely be targeted at home and office use, with some key applications for assisting the disabled. Check out a video of Howe describing the technology to us during our visit to the school and a clip of the SDM doing its thing in the labs, which should help feed your desire to watch robot hands get banged by hammers.%Gallery-161775%
Osaka University wants to shake your hand with its robotic glove (video)
Feel like you aren't connecting with the people you video chat with? A team from Osaka University has developed a robotic hand that'll start a chat by gripping your paw with the warmth and firmness of a rugby player. Assembled from silicone and sponge, the researchers fitted a film heater to keep the electrical extremity at 37 degrees Celsius -- the theory being that if its warmer than your own hand, you're more predisposed toward it. Future plans for the mechanical metacarpus include adding a pressure sensor so it'll match your grip and welding it to a telepresence robot for executives to harass their colleagues with a constant stream of formal greetings. If you're wondering, the answer's yes; we do have footage of terrified exhibition guests giving it a go after the break.
Lego-built robotic arm will pour you a drink, collapse under pressure (video)
We've seen countless robotics projects made either partly or entirely out of Lego, but this pneumatic arm built by Max Sheppard has to rank among the most impressive. As you can see in the video above, while it may be a bit on the slow side, the arm's range of motion is remarkably life-like (even by non-Lego standards). It's also able to grip objects of different sizes, and with enough precision to pour water out of a cup, although Sheppard says it can't lift anything more than a couple of pounds. No word if he has any plans to attach the arm to something.
ITK's Handroid: a softer, gentler robotic hand (video)
Most robotic hands are built with a series of individual motors in each joint, making them heavy, expensive and prone to gripping everything with the subtlety of a vice. Japan's ITK thinks it's solved those problems with Handroid -- designed with cords that mimic the muscles in our meat-paws. No motors mean it's far lighter than the standard Terminator design, and it's controlled with a glove that allows it to mirror the operator's movement as it happens. ITK wants to sell Handroid for the bargain price of $6,500 by 2013 for use in environments too dangerous for humans, but because it's so light and cheap it could also see use as a medical prosthesis. You can see how the device works in the video after the break.
Amenbo five-finger mouse has one up on Mickey (video)
If you're using a standard mouse or a trackpad, there's a good chance you've got a finger or two going to waste, and really, what's the point of having all of those digits if you're not going to put them to work? Japan's Double Research & Development Co. is showing off the Amenbo, a new input device that doesn't waste a single finger. Each gets its own pad with a mouse sensor, all connected to a single base with a flexible material that allows for movement. The device can detect pressure and motion of the fingers, and is ideal for interfacing with things like 3D CAD data, which usually requires two hands. It's also apparently great for use with robot hands and getting androids to flash the metal sign. Video of the device after the break.
Robot hand hits 20WPM, nearly ready to embrace infinite monkey theorem
Robot hands have been grabbing, crushing, drawing and otherwise actuating for years, but have you ever seen one properly type? That's the primary purpose of a new Virginia Tech design. Engineers built this Dexterous Anthropomorphic Robotic Typing (DART) hand to mimic the real deal as best they could, down to individually-actuating three-segment digits and 110 degrees of wrist rotation in a package the size of a real human arm. Using a total of 19 servo motors and high tensile strength wire for the tendons, they managed to create a single mechanical paw that can achieve an estimated 20 words per minute while typing. Next, they plan to cover it in silicone skin and add piezoelectric sensors to provide tactile feedback. Imagine that: the next time a secret family member severs your arm with a focused plasma beam, you'll know where to go for replacement. Find a quick video and the full scientific paper at the links below.
German robot hand takes a licking, apparently keeps on ticking (video)
Sadists at the German Aerospace Center's (DLR) Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics are showing off their latest development in anthropomorphic appendages: a robotic hand that can take a beating from a baseball bat and still give you the middle finger (or a thumbs-up, we suppose). Researchers apparently designed the limb to function like only a human hand can, and it seems they've done a decent job: it's got five independently functioning fingers, sports 19 degrees of freedom (one less than the real deal), and can even snap them phalanges -- oh no they didn't! It's also got the ability to exert a force of 30 newtons from its fingertips. So what makes it so resilient? The robo-hand has a built-in web of 38 tendons, which allow it to adapt its stiffness under different circumstances: a step away, its creators say, from rigid appendages of the past. There's a video of the hand taking a beating after the jump, but honestly, we'd prefer to see what happens when the hand fights back.
Robotic Yale Aerial Manipulator grabs a can of Guinness
There's plenty of UAVs out there capable of dropping things, but comparatively fewer that are able to pick things up. Some researchers at Yale University doing their part to change that, however, and have recently shown off their so-called Yale Aerial Manipulator; a UAV with a robotic hand. While that may not exactly sound like much, the four-fingered hand is able to "autonomously" grab objects that weigh up to two kilograms while the UAV is in flight, and the helicopter itself is able to reach a top speed of 120 kilometers per hour. That, the researchers say, could let the UAV pick up bombs or packages in difficult to reach areas, or even simply be used to make deliveries in urban areas -- like that can of Guinness you've been craving, for instance. Head on past the break to check it out in action.
Festo's strong and agile robot arm is based on the elephant's trunk, scares the bejesus out of us (video)
Festo's unveiled some pretty impressive tech over the years, from fluidic muscles to robotic flying penguins, but this next one has us a bit worried. The Bionic Handling Assistant is ostensibly patterned after the elephant's trunk, designed to be both agile and delicate... but have you seen the thing? We're pretty sure that it was patterned after the tentacles of Doctor Octopus, and that it will crush you and everyone you care about without a second thought. But if you're the trusting type, the company assures you that this is just the thing for all those delicate processes you've been meaning to automate but haven't been able to in the past: everything from handling fruit to animal husbandry is a cinch with this "hierarchically arranged system of muscles and evolutionary optimized movement patterns"! But don't take our word for it: peep the video after the break.
Second-generation air-powered robot hand gets more sensitive
Accordions and robots don't seem to have much in common -- although an accordion-playing robot would make for a killer Weird Al song. Nevertheless, the RAPHaEL hand showed that push-box tech can make for some impressively limber fingers. Now the Virginia Tech College of Engineering Robotics and Mechanisms Laboratory has created its successor, the RAPHaEL 2, and it too has already won an award. This time it grabbed top honors at the ASME Student Mechanism and Robot Design Competition with its air-powered digits, which now use a closed loop control mechanism and more advanced data acquisition hardware from National Instruments, enabling it to better sense what it's groping and to adjust pressure accordingly. It's also made of a more durable polycarbonate, but a carbon fiber version is said to be in the works, which should look totally awesome.
Video: Crafthouse's Melissa robotic hand sounds sweet, looks menacing
Is your poor robot getting by without digits? Without them the poor thing can't greet others, catch ping pong balls, or dial up its cyber-shorties. You need the Melissa Hand from Crafthouse, a servo-driven mitt that's just perfect for your little overlord-to-be. All five fingers open and close at the same time, so it's not ideal for rude robo-gestures, but the videos after the break should give you an idea of what kind of trouble you can get into with the 60mm wide paw. The price? ¥60,000, or about $600. If that's too rich you could always buy a single finger for around $50, but those who need the absolute best can spring for the so-called God Hand, a custom-made model that's a bit smaller (45mm wide) and costs a whopping ¥180,000 -- just shy of $2,000 for a set of left and right. For that kind of money we expect something a little more impressive. [Via Boing Boing Gadgets, Impress]
Video: Robot hand shows off amazing dexterity, speed
So you want something to look forward to in your fast approaching old age, eh? If robots playing baseball doesn't quite cut it, how's about a robohand that redefines what we understand by the word "dexterity"? The Ishikawa Komuro Laboratory is at it again, this time demonstrating robotic appendages with a reaction time of a single millisecond. Using harmonic drive gears and a (really) high-speed actuator, the three-fingered hands can tie your shoelaces, tweezer your brow, and even perform some kung fu pen spinning for the ladies. Video after the break -- skip ahead if you must, but don't miss out on the slow-mo action at 2:40 in the demo, it's pure kinetic poetry. [Via Hizook; Thanks, Thomas B]
Roomba mod allows it to pick things up, hand them to you
Sure, we've seen some wild Roomba mods, but overall it's pretty much a low-to-the-ground affair -- unless you get the cats involved, of course. That's apparently changing, though -- check out this robotic grasping system, which can pick up foreign objects and deliver them to you at about waist height. The system was 95 percent effective in picking up objects of all sizes and shapes during trials, and it was apparently quite simple to build and code. Nice for a Roomba, sure, but we'd rather be partying with SOBEaR. Video after the break.[Thanks, Travis]
