ETH Zurich robot hand walks on its fingers
ETH Zurich’s Soft Robotics Lab shows a robot hand walking, steering and pressing keyboard keys after simulation-based training.
By Bianca Rossi · Entertainment Editor
2 min read
The ETH Zurich robot hand walks using its own fingers as legs, then puts those same digits to work pushing objects and pressing keys on a computer keyboard. The university’s Soft Robotics Lab posted the first-party demonstration video on Sept. 16.
In the footage, the untethered hand scuttles across a surface, changes direction and gets itself upright after a tumble. The video’s chapter list identifies separate demonstrations of locomotion, steering, fall recovery, object pushing and keyboard pressing.
The project is described in a preprint, meaning the supplied evidence does not establish that the research has been peer-reviewed. UPI reported Oct. 30 that ETH Zurich also released videos alongside the paper.
How did ETH Zurich teach the robot hand to walk?
The researchers used reinforcement learning, a method in which a system practices actions and learns which ones best meet a goal. Rather than writing instructions for every possible finger movement, the team trained the hand in computer simulation before testing it on a real floor, according to IBM Think and UPI.
That matters because a hand is an awkward starting point for a walking machine. Doctoral candidate Amirhossein Kazemipour told UPI that its fingers differ from one another, requiring the robot to coordinate them while maintaining balance.
IBM Think reported that the thumb sits off to one side and the other fingers differ in length, unlike the matching, symmetrically arranged legs of a typical four-legged robot. The team set default resting locations for the fingertips, then allowed the learning system to work out when each finger should lift and where it should land, IBM Think reported.
What is the walking robot hand made from?
IBM Think reported that the researchers began with an off-the-shelf WUJI right hand. A Raspberry Pi, battery and other electronics are mounted on it, producing what the report described as a 1.8-pound robot that operates untethered.
The video is a demonstration, not evidence of a commercial product or a deployed machine. Assistant professor Robert Katzschmann told UPI that a small hand might be able to reach confined disaster spaces that would be difficult for a larger robot to enter. That remains a proposed use, rather than an established application.
For now, the appeal is in the unusual double duty: the robot uses its asymmetric fingers to move itself, then uses those same fingers to interact with nearby objects.
This story draws on original reporting from UPI.