Wooden robot hand can lift objects and withstand high temperatures

A robot hand made from wood could be used in extremely hot environments while still maintaining a delicate touch.

Most robotic hand grippers are made from soft plastics, which can pick up objects without damaging them but melt at high temperatures, or from metals with many moving parts, which are stiff and complex to operate.

Now, Swee Ching Tan at the National University of Singapore and his colleagues have developed wooden grippers made from 0.5 millimetre-thick pieces of Canadian maple, …