Robots for humans

Robotics is ripe for a rethink. In the 20^th century, entire industries were distorted to fit the foibles of clunky technology. Today, we can reshape our machines, and liberate ourselves from the tyranny of yesterday's automation. Done right, robots can rehumanize the world of work. Welcome to Robot Rebuilt.

Ever find yourself with a task too mind-numbingly tedious and time-consuming to do by hand, but the alternative ways to do it are loud, wasteful, or otherwise obnoxious? We'd love to hear from you.

Coverage

• New York Times: Brainy, Yes, but Far From Handy, Building a Robot With Human Touch
• Boston Globe - better fingers may be key to better robots
• Boston Globe - MIT spin-out Robot Rebuilt wants to give robotic hands a better sense of touch
• CNET - building a sensitive robot, and a future politician
• PHYS.ORG - Robot Rebuilt get a grip on wine-serving robot
• gizmag - MIT spin-off working on sensitive robotic hands
• RedStar Union talk

Sensitive Robotics

Put simply, we follow a touch-first approach to robotics, where intimate, hands-on sensing no longer plays a distant second to remote, hands-off sensors such as vision and laser scanners. This simple idea, first enunciated in a 2007 thesis, is a breath of fresh air that turns conventional robotics on its head. In 2013, the first Workshop on Sensitive Robotics was held at the Robotics Science and Systems conference in Berlin. It was exciting to see how far touch-first-ers have come!