Latest / The Robotics Podcast with Fexingo: Autonomous Systems, Industrial Robots, and Hardware
Why Robot Arms Still Cant Handle a Coffee Cup
Episode 68 of The Robotics Podcast dives into one of the most surprising failures in modern robotics: picking up a coffee cup. Lucas and Luna explore why the simple act of gripping a ceramic mug—with its rigid handle, varying heat, and slippery glaze—stumps even advanced robot arms. They break down the physics of form closure vs. force closure, the role of tactile sensors and thermal feedback, and why Amazon's warehouse robots still leave barista duties to humans. Featuring insights from MIT's soft robotics lab and a 2025 paper on heat-resistant grippers, this episode reveals the…
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