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Unique Robotic Hand Can Rotate Objects Without Releasing Grasp


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The robotic hand grasps a soccer ball.

The Rolling Fingers hand is made up of three articulated fingers which grasp items by closing in on them from three sides; as the fingers do so, they bend to conform to the object's contours.

Credit: University of Malaga

A novel robotic hand can change a grasped object's orientation without letting go.

Built by researchers at Spain's University of Malaga (UMA) and the U.K.'s University College London, the Rolling Fingers hand's three articulated fingers close in on objects from three sides, while bending to conform to the object's shape.

Rubber gripping surfaces on the fingers can rotate left or right relative to the underlying structure, and when rotated in the same direction simultaneously, can turn objects around while maintaining their grip.

UMA's Jesús M. Gómez said, "With at least three fingers providing two active degrees of freedom [grasping and axial rotation], we can create robotic graspers that are capable of moving objects in a controlled way during a single grasp."


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