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New Aiko hand sheds the clumsy glove, attains exciting new levels of creepiness
It's official: Dr. Trung doesn't have a day job. He's been tweaking his fembot "Aiko" for almost a year now, and his latest creation is a rather amazing hand that can be used for Aiko or for human augmentation. The last time we saw them the hand was a clumsy golf glove affair, but now Trung has slimmed it down to more feminine, creepo proportions, while keeping the five movable fingers and pretty stunning dexterity for what seems to be a primarily individual effort on the part of Dr. Trung. The next step seems to be feedback sensors, and we still haven't seen this bolted onto Aiko, but we like where this project is headed. Video is after the break.
Aiko gets a new, Starbucks-ready hand prototype
Apparently that sexual harassment suit had a big payoff for Aiko: she's getting a hand. The developers of the fembot have created a hand for her botness, with five movable fingers, 15 movable joints, feedback sensitivity, low power consumption and palatable material cost of $1800. Oddly enough, the appropriate testing grounds for such a hand is Aiko's local neighborhood Starbucks, where she apparently regularly is required to grab straws, cups and cardboard sleeves for coffee she can't drink. How cruel. On the bright side, this hand isn't just for Aiko: it can also be attached to an amputee's forearm muscles, allowing for particularly low cost replacement hand -- though we're guessing it's going to need a bit more work before it's ready for mass human consumption. Video is after the break.
Robotic Copycat Arm promises to taunt you with ease
While mind-control interfaces are all well and good, sometimes a simpler solution makes a bit more sense, and that's where this so-called Copycat Arm comes in. Developed by a group of researchers at the University of Tsukub, it makes use of a high-speed camera to monitor a person's movements, which are apparently instantly (and creepily) mimicked by the robot arm.Eventually, the researchers say the same system could be used as a computer interface, which they say could eliminate the need for a mouse and keyboard. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be a video of the arm in action, but those heading to SIGGRAPH 2008 will apparently be able to check it out first hand.
Researchers show off robot hand neural interface
It looks like robot hands have taken yet another step into human-like territory, with a team of researchers at John's Hopkins University recently demonstrating a new neural interface that allows an artificial hand to be used to play the piano. But that's not all! In true mad scientist fashion, to actually control the hand, the researchers relied on neural activity recorded from a monkey's brain. According to MIT's Technology Review, that resulted in the fingers on the hand performing their intended movement about 95 percent of the time. While the system doesn't currently work in real time, the researchers are reportedly planning a live demonstration with a monkey within the next six months. Apparently foreseeing a potential monkey-machine rampage, however, the researchers have wisely decided to only let the monkey control a virtual version of a prosthetic arm.
Squse shows off robot hand with "air muscles"
Japan's Squse looks to be doing its best to keep robots from (unintentionally) crushing anything they get their hands on, recently unveiling a new robotic hand that uses so-called "air muscles" to keep all that superhuman strength in check. Specifically, the hand is packed with artificial fibers that are controlled using air pressure, which makes its movement precise enough to pick up a raw egg without breaking it, yet still no doubt strong enough for it to toss that rule book out the window and go on a five-fingered rampage. While it's one-of-a-kind for the time being, according the the AFP, the company expects to soon ship 50 prototypes to various firms and research institutes, after which it apparently plans to market the hand overseas.
Researchers create super-sensitive robotic hand
It looks like the ability to grab a can of beans wasn't enough to satisfy those mad scientists at the University of Southampton, who promptly went back to work in the lab to create an even more dexterous and sensitive robotic hand, one that'll let its human controller (or eventual autonomous robot overlord) pick up delicate objects without having to worry about breaking or dropping them. The big advance here, as New Scientist reports, is a set of pressure sensors fitted onto each fingertip that automatically determine the correct amount of pressure to apply, as well as set of so-called "slip-detectors," which can detect even slight amounts of slippage and correct the grip before the object falls crashing to the floor. Eventually, the researchers hope amputees will be able to take advantage of the hand, even linking it directly to their brain. It the meantime, however, 'ol Grippy here will likely continue to defend its undefeated streak in the sport of nerd-machine arm wrestling.
Researchers develop world's smallest robotic hand
The dynamic mad scientist duo of Yen-Wen Lu and Chang-Jin "CJ" Kim at UCLA's Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department have reportedly developed the world's smallest robotic hand, measuring just about a millimeter across the fist -- thankfully, small enough not to crush either one of them during testing. The hand's made up of tiny silicon microfingers with polymer-balloon joints, which can be inflated and deflated to open and close with the utmost delicacy. The use of pneumatic operation, as opposed to electrical, also allows the hand to be operated in a wider range of environments, including liquid -- like snapping up a single fish egg in the pic at the right. Robot hands are one thing, but sooner or later you can bet that it'll be attached to a tiny robot body and sent on a not-so-Fantastic Voyage into someone's intestines.[Via Slashdot]
