A detachable crawling robotic hand

The human hand is often viewed as the pinnacle of dexterity, and many robotic hands adopt anthropomorphic designs, while others pursue non-anthropomorphic forms for structural balance or task optimization. However, human-like asymmetry and reliance on a single thumb limit applications that require symmetry or modularity, and most designs still struggle to combine autonomous movement, multi-object grasping, and modularity in one platform. We present a reversible finger design that allows grasping from both sides, with finger placement optimized to distribute roles and satisfy grasping and crawling constraints. In this work, we show that a detachable, reversible hand reliably combines manipulation and locomotion, enabling beyond-reach multi-item retrieval during crawling, one-handed tool use, and seamless bridging of stationary manipulation with autonomous mobility for industrial, service, and exploratory robotics.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2026-01-20
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-67675-8
Primary Topic
Robot Manipulation and Learning
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

A detachable crawling robotic hand

Josie Hughes, Kai Junge, Kunpeng Yao, Aude Billard et al.
Nature Communications
Robot Manipulation and Learning
article

A detachable crawling robotic hand

Josie Hughes, Kai Junge, Kunpeng Yao, Aude Billard, Xiao Gao
article en

Abstract

The human hand is often viewed as the pinnacle of dexterity, and many robotic hands adopt anthropomorphic designs, while others pursue non-anthropomorphic forms for structural balance or task optimization. However, human-like asymmetry and reliance on a single thumb limit applications that require symmetry or modularity, and most designs still struggle to combine autonomous movement, multi-object grasping, and modularity in one platform. We present a reversible finger design that allows grasping from both sides, with finger placement optimized to distribute roles and satisfy grasping and crawling constraints. In this work, we show that a detachable, reversible hand reliably combines manipulation and locomotion, enabling beyond-reach multi-item retrieval during crawling, one-handed tool use, and seamless bridging of stationary manipulation with autonomous mobility for industrial, service, and exploratory robotics.

Nature CommunicationsVol. 17(1)
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
National Science Foundation, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
Openalex Percentile: Top 83%
Robot Manipulation and Learning
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