Life Musings

This page on rapid prototyping and gripper customization is rather clever. A lot of work on robotic manipulation focuses on these horribly elaborate hand-like grippers. These may be suitable as prosthetics, but their industrial applications are quite limited. Human hands were designed for flexibility and adaptability, after all, rather than speed or efficiency. In addition, they rely on extensive sensor feedback, the likes of which we cannot even begin to approximate right now.

I just love this multidisciplinary work. I love it greatly. That's also why I appreciate biotechnology, even though the biological aspects are outside most of my formal training.