Lael Odhner talks about grasping objects with a compliant hand.
Lael Odhner is a co-founder of RightHand Robotics, that is developing a gripper based on the combination of control and soft, compliant parts to get better grasping of objects.
Their work focuses on grasping and manipulating everyday human objects in everyday environments.This mimics how human hands combine control and flexibility to grasp objects with great dexterity.
The combination of control and compliance makes the RightHand robotics gripper very light-weight and affordable. The compliance makes it easier to grasp objects of unknown shape and differs from the way industrial robots usually grip. The compliance also helps in a more unstructured environment where contact with the object and its surroundings cannot be exactly predicted.
Lael also talks about how most of what needs to be achieved when grasping and manipulating objects can be done with far fewer controlled degrees of freedom in the manipulator. That leads to a much less complex hand that is smaller, lighter and cheaper.
We also hear about how testing what the hand can grasp led to strange looks at a farmers market.
This interview was recorded in 2016.
