Humanoid robot gets a grip, literally
Prototype with human-sized multi-joined hand gives us nightmares
If we toured a factory and saw these guys working the assembly line, we'd probably run in the other direction.
Japanese researchers are working on a multi-jointed humanoid robot with a "robust and dexterous human-sized robotic hand," a significant advancement beyond its clumsier and weaker predecessors, according to Pink Tentacle.
While other robots developed for fun boast features such as 17 adjustable joints, the hand alone of the prototype pictured here has four joints in each finger and a thumb with five. This allows flexibility that can perform far more delicate operations than previous robots could possibly imagine. (And we're sure they did.) We don't doubt the potential for vastly improved efficiency in these next-generation machines; we just don't want them anywhere near us.
(Photo: Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology)
