This robotic arm can release its hand to grab items

Because of their strength and speed, robotic arms are typically permanently attached to floors or other structures for added stability, limiting their reach. The aim of the research, conducted at EPFL’s Learning Algorithms and Systems Laboratory (LASA), was to develop a bimodal robotic hand with extended grasping capabilities, including occasional independence from the robotic arm to which it is attached.

Robot hands are usually designed with one purpose in mind: holding things. To develop one that could do that and crawl around on its own like the Addams Family’s Thing, the researchers generated and refined a basic design using a genetic algorithm (which relies on biological tricks like natural selection and evolution) and the MuJoCo -physics simulator to test the usability of iterations.

The algorithm and simulations helped the researchers determine the optimal position and required number of jointed fingers, which turned out to be five, in a similar layout to human hands. The robot hand also uses a magnetic connector at the wrist, allowing it to attach and detach autonomously from an arm.

The fingers of the hand can bend in both directions, allowing some of them to be used to lift objects while the rest function as small paws. This design also increases the usability of the hand while attached to a robotic arm. It can lift multiple objects at once without rotating the arm to move unused fingers.

The hand is also significantly smaller than robots like Boston Dynamics’ Spot, which can move freely using four legs. Spot has already been upgraded with its own robotic arm and gripper, but with an articulated hand that works independently, he could be better equipped to explore or analyze areas that Spot can’t reach.