Robotic Hands Grip Without Fingers

Posted by Soulskill on Monday October 25, 2010 @10:28AM from the please-don't-send-this-to-japan dept.

sciencehabit writes "Physicists have designed a robotic hand that doesn't have fingers, yet can still serve drinks and draw pictures. The hand is a thin, rubber sack filled with coffee grains or small glass spheres. When it comes into contact with an object, a small pipe sucks air from the sack, causing it to contract and mold to the object's shape. As long as the gripper can fold about one-fourth of the object's surface, it can pick up just about any shape thrown in its path. The article includes a video of the hand in action."

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So thats how... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-10-25 10:35 · Score: 3, Insightful

The Daleks built an empire armed with a zap gun and a plunger...
Novel and cool by SoupGuru · 2010-10-25 10:53 · Score: 4, Insightful

That's pretty freaking awesome.

The real advances toward powered flight were when we stopped trying to imitate nature and go in a different direction.

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What doesn't kill you only delays the inevitable