We have all seen robots pick up and manipulate objects of varying shapes and sizes. It is much harder for them to grasp objects thrown at them. HARRI is a high-speed adaptive robot that can catch a flying ball or box. This robot was developed at the Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory (RoMeLa) at UCLA. It uses “quasi-direct drive proprioceptive actuators combined with advanced control strategies such as impedance control and real-time model predictive control (MPC)” for high speed manipulation tasks.
Its actuators have proprioceptive sensing embedded in them, so HARRI features real-time feedback on position, torque and velocity without external sensors. As the above video shows, this robot can catch flying objects
[HT]