Research, Technology & engineering

Meet the most nimble-fingered robot ever built

By Brett Israel

dexnet 2.0 robot grabbing a rubber duck
dexnet 2.0 robot grabbing a rubber duck

Grabbing the awkwardly shaped items that people pick up in their day-to-day lives is a slippery task for robots. Irregularly shaped items such as shoes, spray bottles, open boxes, even rubber duckies are easy for people to grab and pick up, but robots struggle with knowing where to apply a grip. In a significant step toward overcoming this problem, roboticists at UC Berkeley have a built a robot that can pick up and move unfamiliar, real-world objects with a 99 percent success rate.