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.
Authors
- Josie Hughes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8410-3565)
- Kai Junge (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5274-9561)
- Kunpeng Yao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5839-081X)
- Aude Billard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7076-8010)
- Xiao Gao
Institutions
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (US)
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
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung