Robot Grasping and Manipulation: A Prospective

TL;DR

This paper discusses the challenges and future prospects of robot grasping and manipulation, emphasizing its importance for advancing autonomous systems and AI integration in robotics.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of current challenges and future directions in robot grasping and manipulation technologies.

Findings

Robust manipulation remains a key challenge in robotics.

Advancements in AI are crucial for autonomous manipulation.

Future research should focus on reliability and adaptability of robotic hands.

Abstract

``A simple handshake would give them away''. This is how Anthony Hopkins' fictional character, Dr Robert Ford, summarises a particular flaw of the 2016 science-fiction \emph{Westworld}'s hosts. In the storyline, Westworld is a futuristic theme park and the hosts are autonomous robots engineered to be indistinguishable from the human guests, except for their hands that have not been perfected yet. In another classic science-fiction saga, scientists unlock the secrets of full synthetic intelligence, Skynet, by reverse engineering a futuristic hand. In both storylines, reality inspires fiction on one crucial point: designing hands and reproducing robust and reliable manipulation actions is one of the biggest challenges in robotics. Solving this problem would lead us to a new, improved era of autonomy. A century ago, the third industrial revolution brought robots into the assembly lines, changing our way of working forever. The next revolution has already started by bringing us artificial intelligence (AI) assistants, enhancing our quality of life in our jobs and everyday lives--even combating worldwide pandemics.