Watch how Sydney-based Contactile is developing robotic grippers that can adjust their strength based on real-time feedback.
Gripping and grasping, lifting and pulling: humanity has assigned robots all kinds of tasks in jobs that are dirty, dull and dangerous. But when it comes to fine motor skills, humans have advantages robots don’t.
We know, for instance, how to adjust our grip so it is suitable for the object at hand. We know not to pick up an egg the same way we would a tennis ball. Robots, however, lack this finely tuned understanding of the world around them.
Sydney company Contactile wants to change that. Using machine learning and optical sensors, Contactile is developing robotic grippers that can adjust their strength based on real-time feedback about an object’s weight, its slipperiness, and how it deforms.
In this video, Contactile CEO Heba Khamis explains how to give robots a sense of touch, and why greater dexterity can make for a more useful robot.
Filmed by Carlos Manaog with reporting by Jonathan Bradley.
