. 24/7 Space News .
ROBO SPACE
This 5-fingered robot hand learns to get a grip on its own
by Staff Writers
Seattle WA (SPX) May 11, 2016


A University of Washington research team has custom built one of the most highly capable five-fingered robot hands in the world. They also developed an accurate simulation model that enables a computer to analyze movements in real time, and in their latest demonstration (beginning at 1:47), apply the model to the hardware and real-world tasks like rotating an elongated object. With each attempt, the robot hand gets progressively more adept at spinning the tube, thanks to machine learning algorithms that help it model both the basic physics involved and plan which actions it should take to achieve the desired result. Image courtesy Vikash Kumar, University of Washington. For a larger version of this image please go here. Watch a video on the research here.

Robots today can perform space missions, solve a Rubik's cube, sort hospital medication and even make pancakes. But most can't manage the simple act of grasping a pencil and spinning it around to get a solid grip. Intricate tasks that require dexterous in-hand manipulation - rolling, pivoting, bending, sensing friction and other things humans do effortlessly with our hands - have proved notoriously difficult for robots.

Now, a University of Washington team of computer science and engineering researchers has built a robot hand that can not only perform dexterous manipulation but also learn from its own experience without needing humans to direct it. Their latest results are detailed in a paper to be presented May 17 at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

"Hand manipulation is one of the hardest problems that roboticists have to solve," said lead author Vikash Kumar, a UW doctoral student in computer science and engineering. "A lot of robots today have pretty capable arms but the hand is as simple as a suction cup or maybe a claw or a gripper."

By contrast, the UW research team spent years custom building one of the most highly capable five-fingered robot hands in the world. Then they developed an accurate simulation model that enables a computer to analyze movements in real time. In their latest demonstration, they apply the model to the hardware and real-world tasks like rotating an elongated object.

With each attempt, the robot hand gets progressively more adept at spinning the tube, thanks to machine learning algorithms that help it model both the basic physics involved and plan which actions it should take to achieve the desired result.

This autonomous learning approach developed by the UW Movement Control Laboratory contrasts with robotics demonstrations that require people to program each individual movement of the robot's hand in order to complete a single task.

"Usually people look at a motion and try to determine what exactly needs to happen - the pinky needs to move that way, so we'll put some rules in and try it and if something doesn't work, oh the middle finger moved too much and the pen tilted, so we'll try another rule," said senior author and lab director Emo Todorov, UW associate professor of computer science and engineering and of applied mathematics.

"It's almost like making an animated film - it looks real but there was an army of animators tweaking it," Todorov said. "What we are using is a universal approach that enables the robot to learn from its own movements and requires no tweaking from us."

Building a dexterous, five-fingered robot hand poses challenges, both in design and control. The first involved building a mechanical hand with enough speed, strength responsiveness and flexibility to mimic basic behaviors of a human hand.

The UW's dexterous robot hand - which the team built at a cost of roughly $300,000 - uses a Shadow Hand skeleton actuated with a custom pneumatic system and can move faster than a human hand. It is too expensive for routine commercial or industrial use, but it allows the researchers to push core technologies and test innovative control strategies.

"There are a lot of chaotic things going on and collisions happening when you touch an object with different fingers, which is difficult for control algorithms to deal with," said co-author Sergey Levine, UW assistant professor of computer science and engineering who worked on the project as a postdoctoral fellow at University of California, Berkeley. "The approach we took was quite different from a traditional controls approach."

The team first developed algorithms that allowed a computer to model highly complex five-fingered behaviors and plan movements to achieve different outcomes - like typing on a keyboard or dropping and catching a stick - in simulation.

Most recently, the research team has transferred the models to work on the actual five-fingered hand hardware, which never proves to be exactly the same as a simulated scenario. As the robot hand performs different tasks, the system collects data from various sensors and motion capture cameras and employs machine learning algorithms to continually refine and develop more realistic models.

"It's like sitting through a lesson, going home and doing your homework to understand things better and then coming back to school a little more intelligent the next day," said Kumar.

So far, the team has demonstrated local learning with the hardware system - which means the hand can continue to improve at a discrete task that involves manipulating the same object in roughly the same way. Next steps include beginning to demonstrate global learning - which means the hand could figure out how to manipulate an unfamiliar object or a new scenario it hasn't encountered before.


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
University of Washington
All about the robots on Earth and beyond!






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

Previous Report
ROBO SPACE
Rover technology for space now being used on Earth
Longueuil, Canada (SPX) May 10, 2016
Every day, people around the world use thousands of products and services that have originated or advanced, through space research and technology. Canadian company Ontario Drive and Gear Ltd. (ODG), based in New Hamburg, Ontario, is an example of how space technology can find its way back to Earth, bringing innovative solutions to human challenges. In 2008 the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) h ... read more


ROBO SPACE
NASA research gives new insights into how the Moon got inked

First rocket made ready for launch at Vostochny spaceport

Supernova iron found on the moon

Russia to shift all Lunar launches to Vostochny Cosmodrome

ROBO SPACE
Flying observatory detects atomic oxygen in Martian atmosphere

Beyond Ikea: Swedish Gadget to Harvest Water on Martian Surface

Clues about Volcanoes Under Ice on Ancient Mars

Second ExoMars mission moves to next launch opportunity in 2020

ROBO SPACE
No more space race for US, rivalry gives way to collaboration

Thornton leads upgrade of ground special power for Orion

How will people interact with technology in the future

NASA Awards Contract for Aeronautics, Exploration Modeling, Simulation

ROBO SPACE
Long March-7 rocket delivered to launch site

China's space technology extraordinary, impressive says Euro Space Center director

China can meet Chile's satellite needs: ambassador

China launches Kunpeng-1B sounding rocket

ROBO SPACE
NASA, Space Station partners announce future mission crew members

New landing date for ESA astronaut Tim Peake

Tim Peake goes roving

Russia delays space crew's return to Earth

ROBO SPACE
First work platforms powered tested in VAB for Space Launch System

Date set for second SLS booster test

SpaceX successfully lands rockets first stage after space launch

SpaceX lands rocket's first stage after space launch

ROBO SPACE
NASA says 1,284 new planets found by Kepler telescope

Kepler space telescope finds another 1284 exo planets

Scientists discover potentially habitable planets

MIT compiles list of potential gases to guide search for life on exoplanets

ROBO SPACE
Design tool enables novices to create bendable input devices for computers

Molybdenum disulfide holds promise for light absorption

Accelerating complex computer simulations: thinking beyond ones and zeros

Machine learning accelerates the discovery of new materials









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.