A Robotic Hand Surpassing Human Capabilities in Dexterity and Functionality

A Robotic Hand Surpassing Human Capabilities in Dexterity and Functionality | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article A Robotic Hand Surpassing Human Capabilities in Dexterity and Functionality Xiao Gao, Kunpeng Yao, Kai Junge, Josie Hughes, Aude Gemma Billard This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5538062/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 20 Jan, 2026 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The human hand is often viewed as the pinnacle of dexterity. Yet, its asymmetric shape and unique thumb largely limit its dexterity. Artificial and robotic hands have often departed from anthropomorphic design. With two or three fingers distributed in a uniform manner, traditional industrial robotic hands aimed at preserving symmetry, and facilitating manipulation. They remain, however, extremely far from human dexterity, capable solely of picking and placing tasks, one object at a time. We present a reversible robotic hand that tackles this challenge by uniting multi-object grasping and crawling locomotion in a single device. The hand employs an identical-finger, symmetric design optimized through a multi-layer framework that combines optimization (for exploring diverse grasp configurations) with constraint-based methods. As a result, the hand can detach from the arm, crawl to retrieve multiple objects beyond normal reach, and reattach while securely holding them. This integrated approach expands conventional manipulative capabilities, enabling tasks that surpass human and traditional robotic hands in certain scenarios, such as grasping multiple items, while simultaneously walking, using a single hand in place of two for manipulating tools. By bridging the gap between stationary manipulation and autonomous mobility, our design opens new possibilities for industrial, service, and exploratory robotic applications. Physical sciences/Engineering/Mechanical engineering Physical sciences/Mathematics and computing/Computer science non-anthropomorphic hand bio-inspired robotics mobile manipulation AI-based design and control Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files videos.zip Supplementary Video Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 20 Jan, 2026 Read the published version in Nature Communications → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5538062","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":439435868,"identity":"097e2cfc-1a09-450c-bc79-d8a21aedc185","order_by":0,"name":"Xiao 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