Why Robot Arms Still Cant Tie a Knot

The Robotics Podcast with Fexingo: Autonomous Systems, Industrial Robots, and Hardware · Sep 2, 2026 · 14m · transcript

We drill into the specific engineering bottleneck of soft robotics: why manipulating compliant, flexible materials like fabric or cables remains exponentially harder than rigid-object manipulation. Using the example of a robotic surgical assistant learning to suture tissue, we explore the gap between computer vision precision and tactile feedback latency. Lucas breaks down the physics of non-linear deformation while Luna challenges the assumption that more sensors equal better control. We examine how recent advances in haptic feedback loops are closing the gap, but why the 'knot-tying…