Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have developed Fragile Object Grasping with Tactile Sensing (FORTE), a robotic hand that combines tactile sensing and soft robotics to handle very fragile items without damage. A paper describing the work appears in IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters; the lead author is Siqi Shang, a doctoral student in the Cockrell School of Engineering’s electrical and computer engineering department.
The fingers use a fin-ray effect drawn from fish fins and are made with advanced 3D-printing. They include internal, empty air channels that act as tactile sensors. When the fingers close around an object the channels shift and change air pressure; small off-the-shelf pressure sensors detect these changes and provide real-time force feedback. This feedback lets the system detect slipping and adjust its grip quickly, which the team says gives robots a sense of touch closer to human hand sensors.
The researchers tested the grippers on 31 objects: fragile items like raspberries and potato chips, slippery objects such as jam jars and billiard balls, and everyday items like soup cans and apples. In single-trial experiments the system achieved a 91.9% success rate and recognized 93% of slips with 100% precision, and it outperformed traditional grippers that rely only on visual feedback. The fingers are customizable and have a longer lifespan than some emerging devices; the hardware designs and algorithms were released publicly. Next steps include reducing temperature sensitivity of the sensors and improving the ability to catch slipping objects.
Support came from the Texas Robotics Industrial Affiliate Program, the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, the DARPA TIAMAT program, and South Korea’s Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation. Source: UT Austin.
- Food processing: reduce waste when handling fruit and baked goods
- Health care: handle medical instruments and fragile biological samples
- Manufacturing: manage delicate components like electronics and glassware
Difficult words
- tactile — relating to the sense of touch
- fin-ray — structural design inspired by fish fin movement
- pressure sensor — device that measures force from air or fluidpressure sensors
- gripper — robot hand or tool for holding objectsgrippers
- customizable — able to be changed to user needs
- lifespan — length of time something lasts
- precision — degree of exactness or accuracy
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- Which of the listed applications (food processing, health care, manufacturing) do you think would benefit most from this robotic hand? Explain your reasons.
- What practical challenges remain before these grippers can be widely used in industry or hospitals? Mention points from the article.
- The team released hardware designs and algorithms publicly. How might that decision affect future research or commercial development?
