Watch a robot peel a squash with human-like dexterity

A robot that peels vegetables in the same way that people do demonstrates a level of dexterity that could help move delicate objects along a manufacturing line.

Prototype robots are often tasked with peeling vegetables to test their ability to carefully handle awkward objects. But these challenges are usually simplified, such as the vegetable being fixed in place, or only testing single fruits or vegetables, like peeling a banana.

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Now, Pulkit Agrawal at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his colleagues have developed a robotic system that can rotate different types of fruit and vegetable using its fingers on one hand, while the other arm is made to peel.

“These additional steps of doing rotation are something which is very straightforward to humans, we don’t even think about it,” says Agrawal. “But for a robot, this becomes challenging.”

First, the robot was taught in a simulated environment, receiving an algorithmic reward for a proper rotation and a punishment if it rotated the wrong way or not at all.