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Versatile touch
If we want robots to take on more tasks for humans, we need to give them more versatile hands.
At the present time, many robot hands can only perform specialized tasks. Those who are strong often have problems with tasks that require a delicate touch, and soft hands often do not have much weight when it comes to strength.
But now, a team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University has created a not only powerful, but also flexible robot hand that could open a new era in the field of robotics.
Show of hands
The team is inspired by the magic origami balloon. Rather than using some kind of finger-shaped forceps, their cone-shaped robot hand wraps an object and then collapses around it, much like a Venus fly trap captures its prey .
The applied pressure is enough for the hand to lift objects up to 100 times its own weight, but it can also handle much more delicate and light objects. A video published by MIT demonstrates the ability of the hand to take everything from a tin can to a banana.
Sweet, but strong
Robotics professor Michael Wehner of the University of California at Santa Cruz, who was not involved in the project, praised the hand, highlighting his novelty in an interview with MIT News.
"It's a very smart device that uses the power of 3D printing, vacuum and soft robotics to tackle the problem of typing in a whole new way," said Wehner. "In the years to come, I could imagine seeing gentle robots soft and clever enough to pick a rose, but strong enough to lift a hospitalized patient safely."
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