New model offers potential to improve dexterity of robotic grippers

Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a means of using the environment to improve the dexterity of robotic hands and grippers.

The team has developed a model that predicts the force with which a robotic gripper needs to push against various fixtures in the environment in order to adjust its grasp on an object.

For example, if the hand is losing its grip on an object, it will be able to push it against a nearby surface to adjust its balance and grasp, rather than having to put the object down and pick it up again.

This technology could have medical applications, such as in the case of a surgical robot that could push a scalpel against an operating table to get a better grip.

Study leader Alberto Rodriguez, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at MIT, said: "Any applications where you have limitations in terms of payload or cost or complexity … whenever you have a gripper that is not dexterous like a human hand, this method gives you some of that dexterity."