Alice Chambers |
Sanctuary AI is building an AI platform called Carbon on Microsoft Azure to advance physical AI.
Rob Waye, director of business development at Sanctuary AI, shared insights at Hannover Messe into how the company is developing highly dexterous robotic hands that mimic the sense of touch, much like human fingertips, to revolutionise repetitive and physically demanding tasks.
One of the key challenges in industries that rely on manual labour is the prevalence of “red working spaces”, where repetitive jobs can lead to back injuries and contribute to human talent shortages. To address this, Sanctuary AI has developed dexterous robotic hands designed to unlock the trapped data within physical spaces. By collecting and analysing this data, they can build AI models that enhance automation and efficiency.
To date, these robots have successfully performed 450 tasks, primarily in picking and packing. A major advantage of this technology is its ability to be implemented as a brownfield replacement, meaning companies can integrate it into existing facilities without the need for new infrastructure. This approach is particularly beneficial in industries like e-commerce, where precise and efficient handling of goods is critical.
One of the most significant advancements in the project is the ability of these robotic hands to locate and manipulate items using only their sense of touch, a feature that dramatically improves the speed and accuracy of robotic operations, according to Waye. Sanctuary AI has even incorporated fingernails into the design of the fingers to enhance functionality.
“We’ve built the world’s second-best hand, second only to our own,” said Waye.
The firm is also working on closing the “sim-to-real gap”, enabling robots to transition between simulated environments and real-world applications. The long-term vision is to develop a general-purpose robot capable of handling a wide variety of tasks across multiple industries.
A key design choice was maintaining a human-like form for these robots, at least in terms of their hands, so they can interact with tools originally designed for human workers. This design choice ensures that businesses can integrate robotic systems without the need for extensive modifications to their existing workflows.
A major deployment has already taken place with Canadian Tire Company, and the next deployment is planned for an industrial setting, demonstrating the versatility and real-world applicability of the technology.
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