The vision of the HAND ERC is a future in which robotic manipulation is intelligent, dexterous, and versatile; accessible to all people and all firms (small and large); widely used to augment hands-on work; and a strong contributor to a more cohesive society and economy. In short, the goal is to democratize access to robotic manipulation.

Engagement with our Innovation Ecosystem, and convergent research driven by participatory action research and human-centered design, meet at our engineered system: dexterous robot hands, driven by a library of AI-powered skills, and programmed using intuitive user interfaces. Impacts include the democratization of robotics, making the benefits of robotics accessible to firms of all sizes; worker augmentation and improved career opportunities; applications in a wide variety of domains; a robust robotics workforce; and shorter, more resilient supply chains that reduce carbon emissions and are less susceptible to disruption.

The HAND ERC is funded by the U.S. NSF for up to $52M and 10-years. See the center announcement here.