Tech Briefs Magazine - August 2023 - 37

Highly Dexterous Robot Hand Can Operate in the Dark
A highly dexterous robot hand combining an advanced sense of touch with motor learning
algorithms could have applications in logistics and material handling.
Columbia University, New York, NY
R
esearchers at Columbia Engineering have demonstrated
a highly dexterous robot hand, one that combines an advanced
sense of touch with motor learning algorithms in order
to achieve a high level of dexterity.
To demonstrate its skill, the team chose a difficult manipulation
task: executing an arbitrarily large rotation of an unevenly
shaped grasped object in hand while always maintaining
the object in a stable, secure hold. Not only was the hand
able to perform this task, but it also did so without any visual
feedback whatsoever - based solely on touch sensing. In addition,
the hand worked without any external cameras, so it's
immune to lighting, occlusion, or similar issues.
" While our demonstration was on a proof-of-concept task,
meant to illustrate the capabilities of the hand, we believe
that this level of dexterity will open up entirely new applications
for robotic manipulation in the real world, " said Associate
Professor Matei Ciocarlie. " Some of the more immediate
uses might be in logistics and material handling, helping
ease up supply chain problems like the ones that have
plagued our economy in recent years, and in advanced manufacturing
and assembly in factories. "
The researchers designed and built a robot hand with five
fingers and 15 independently actuated joints - each finger
was equipped with the team's touch-sensing technology. The
next step was to test the ability of the tactile hand to perform
complex manipulation tasks. To do this, they used a method
called deep reinforcement learning, augmented with new
algorithms that they developed for effective exploration of
possible motor strategies.
The input to the motor learning algorithms consisted exclusively
of the team's tactile and proprioceptive data, without
any vision. Using simulation as a training ground, the
robot completed approximately one year of practice in only
hours, thanks to modern physics simulators and highly parallel
processors. The researchers then transferred this manipulation
skill trained in simulation to the real robot hand,
which was able to achieve the anticipated level of dexterity.
" The directional goal for the field remains assistive robotics
in the home, the ultimate proving ground for real
dexterity. In this study, we've shown that robot hands can
also be highly dexterous based on touch sensing alone.
Once we also add visual feedback into the mix along with
touch, we hope to be able to achieve even more dexterity,
and one day start approaching the replication of the human
hand, " said Ciocarlie.
Ciocarlie observed that a physical robot being useful in
the real-world needs both abstract, semantic intelligence
and embodied intelligence. Large language models such as
OpenAI's GPT-4 or Google's PALM aim to provide the former,
while dexterity in manipulation as achieved in this
study represents complementary advances in the latter.
For more information, contact Holly Evarts at holly.evarts@
columbia.edu; 212-854-3206.
Discontinued by some distributors
LED LIGHT KIT
Still available from the OEM and other
distributors
The robot with five fingers and 15 independently actuated joints - each
finger was equipped with the touch-sensing technology. (Image: Columbia
University ROAM Lab)
Tech Briefs, August 2023
www.techbriefs.com
37
http://info.hotims.com/84482-717 http://www.techbriefs.com
Tech Briefs Magazine - August 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Tech Briefs Magazine - August 2023
