Robots to mimic human dexterity for better grasp of objects

The use of robots in global manufacturing has grown dramatically over the last decade. However, despite this rise, robots are still typically limited to sectors such as the car industry, where they are used to carry out simple, repetitive tasks with solid components in carefully controlled conditions.

Now a team of UK researchers, funded by EPSRC, is hoping to teach robots to handle even delicate and irregular objects, expanding their use within sectors such as the food and drink and consumer electronics industries.

The researchers, led by Dr Lorenzo Jamone at Queen Mary University of London, are developing a system based on virtual reality technologies and smart wearable devices, to allow robots to learn manipulation techniques simply by mimicking human demonstrators.

“Robots in industry today mainly deal with simple objects, so for example objects that are rigid, or those that are all identical, which allows them to use an analytical model,” said Jamone. “Alternately, robots are used for simple tasks such as picking and placing an object from the same position to another known position each time,” he said.