Sanctuary AI, a Vancouver-based company specializing in AI and robotics, has announced a major breakthrough with its advanced robotic hands. These hands are capable of performing in-hand manipulation, greatly enhancing the dexterity of the company’s general-purpose robots. This development opens up new possibilities for the use of these robots in intricate industrial tasks. According to the company’s official blog, the robotic hands feature 21 degrees of freedom (DoF) and use miniaturized hydraulic valves for actuation. This allows for seamless transitions between picking, reorienting, and placing objects, which are essential tasks in industrial settings. The hands are integrated into the company’s general-purpose robot, Phoenix, and provide detailed behavioral data to enhance the training of Sanctuary AI’s control system, Carbon.
The company’s announcement states that this system offers higher power density compared to traditional cable and electromechanical methods. It also boasts improved speed, strength, controllability, cycle life, impact resistance, and heat management. “Our goal is to create a reliable system with human-level dexterity. We have recently achieved a milestone by testing our hydraulic valve actuators over 2 billion cycles without any signs of leakage or degradation,” said James Wells, interim CEO and CCO at Sanctuary AI. The modular design of the system allows for future collaborations with both humanoid and non-humanoid robots. “Demonstrating in-hand manipulation with a scalable and reliable system is a key milestone towards showcasing the breadth and viability of capable general-purpose robots,” Wells added.
Established in 2018, Sanctuary AI aims to create robots with human-like intelligence. These robots are designed to address global labor challenges while promoting safety and efficiency in the workplace. In October of this year, Tesla also showcased the company’s humanoid robot, Optimus, which has 22 DoF and can play rock, paper, and scissors with a fan at the ‘We, Robot’ event. Optimus has also recently mastered walking over rough, slippery terrain.
The use of hydraulic hand actuation is a major factor in achieving human-level dexterity. Hydraulic systems provide significantly higher power density compared to electromechanical actuators, resulting in enhanced controllability, faster and stronger movements, and millimeter-level finger precision. In the past, integrating hydraulics into humanoid designs was challenging due to the lack of off-the-shelf components. However, Sanctuary AI has overcome this obstacle by miniaturizing actuators and valve systems to the size of a coin. These components have undergone rigorous testing, completing over two billion cycles without any leakage or degradation, setting new standards for durability. The system operates at low pressure, similar to consumer-grade hydraulic bicycle brakes, and uses food-safe oil, ensuring safety and reliability. This advancement in hydraulic hand actuation technology has the potential to revolutionize the capabilities of general-purpose robots in various industries.
