Human AugmentatioN via Dexterity
Revolutionizing Robot Dexterity and Empowering Human Work
HAND ERC
The NSF Human AugmentatioN via Dexterity Engineering Research Center (HAND ERC) aims to revolutionize the ability of robots to augment human labor by developing easy-to-integrate and versatile dexterous robot hands that make robot manipulators useful “out of the box.” These hands will come equipped with a library of AI-powered dexterous skills that grows over time and intuitive interfaces that trained workers can use immediately.
Research Thrusts
To realize this vision, HAND ERC research centers around three thrusts: robot hands (sensing, actuation, design), intelligent dexterity (simulation, AI, machine learning, and control), and human interface (multimodal interfaces, programming, and social, legal, and industrial studies).
Testbeds
A revolution in robot dexterity will unleash innovation in high-mix manufacturing, food preparation, caregiving and assistance, high-consequence manipulation, and other fields. HAND ERC supports application testbeds around the country to engage our innovation ecosystem by focusing on high-impact applications.
Impact
Robot hands are the interface that transform modern AI to useful physical work. A revolution in robot dexterity will enable individuals with motor impairments to live fuller lives, improve the quality of manufacturing jobs while making workers vastly more productive, address changing demographics and labor shortages, make supply chains shorter and less susceptible to disruption, increase the productivity of small and medium enterprises, and create a more diverse workforce that shares more equitably in the benefits of robotics.
Join Us
We welcome companies, research labs, and civic, educational, and advocacy organizations to join us in our mission to democratize access to the benefits of robotics through human augmentation via dexterity. HAND ERC is headquartered at Northwestern University. Core partners include Texas A&M University, Florida A&M University, and Carnegie Mellon University with additional faculty support from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Syracuse University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Contact us for more information about joining our innovation ecosystem or to receive updates about HAND.
