Latest / The Robotics Podcast with Fexingo: Autonomous Systems, Industrial Robots, and Hardware
Why Robot Arms Still Cant Pick a Lock
In this episode of The Robotics Podcast, Lucas and Luna dive into why robot hands fail at a task most humans find trivial: picking a pin-and-tumbler lock. Using the 2025 LockPicking Robot Challenge as a case study, they explore the three core problems—force feedback under a gram, shear-line detection, and the lack of human-like tactile finesse—that stump even the most advanced robot arms. They compare the torque-control struggles of industrial arms like the Fanuc LR Mate 200iD against human dexterity, and discuss why AI vision alone can't substitute for real haptic sensing. Plus, a brief…
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