Researchers at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland have developed an articulated hand that can grasp things by detaching and crawling on its own, extending the reach of the robotic arm. The study was recently presented at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) and featured in IEEE Spectrum magazine.
Due to the strength and speed of robotic arms, they are often permanently fixed to floors or other structures for added stability, which limits their reach. The research was carried out at the Learning Algorithms and Systems Laboratory (LASA) at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne with the goal of developing a dual-mode manipulator with a stronger gripping capacity, including occasionally independent of the connected robotic arm.
This hand can be detached and reattached to the robotic arm as needed
Robots are usually designed with one goal in mind: to catch things. To develop a robotic hand that can both grasp and crawl on its own, like the "thing" in The Adamsky Family, the researchers used genetic algorithms (which rely on biological techniques such as natural selection and evolution) and the MuJoCo physics simulator to generate and refine the basic design to test the utility of the iteration.
Algorithms and simulations helped the researchers determine the optimal position and number of articulated fingers needed, and the result was five, with a layout similar to that of a human hand. The manipulator also uses a magnetic connector at the wrist, allowing it to autonomously connect or detach from the arm.
The manipulator's fingers can be bent in both directions, so it can crawl, and when it is attached to the robotic arm, it can also grasp two objects at the same time.
The fingers of this hand can be bent in both directions so that it can lift the object with part of its fingers while the rest of its fingers act as a lower leg. This design also expands the use of the hand when attaching to the robotic arm. It can lift multiple objects at the same time without having to twist the robotic arm to reposition unused fingers.
It also has much smaller hands compared to robots such as Boston Dynamics' Spot, which can move freely on four legs. Spot has been upgraded with its own robotic arm and gripper, but with a jointed hand that can operate independently, it will be better able to explore or analyze areas that Spot can't squeeze into.